


Muddy Waters

by Choppaly



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Age Difference, Drama, Eventual Smut, Ex-warrior, F/M, Fingering, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Historia is a slight comedic relief, Jealousy, Levi with a scar, Lost and Found, Nudity, Oral Sex, Passion, Possessive Levi Ackerman, RivaHisu, Romance, Rough Sex, Runaway, Sexual Tension, Smoking, Some angst, Spit Kink, Strangers to Lovers, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, Young Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin), dream team, levi in his 20’s, slowburn, tied by secrets
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-08
Updated: 2021-02-18
Packaged: 2021-03-14 04:53:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 27,631
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29290164
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Choppaly/pseuds/Choppaly
Summary: Two different people that share similar past experiences and emotional baggage are clashing with each other inside the city of Mitras, soon each of them finding a purpose in this oddly pleasant meeting. Is it really the right time for everything that will happen?Will the truths about each other tear them apart, or make them as close as they have ever been? The answer lays within something that is in the water.
Relationships: Levi Ackerman/Krista Lenz | Historia Reiss
Comments: 11
Kudos: 15





	1. If blue could be happiness

**Author's Note:**

> Hellooo. I wanted to say thank you if you decided to give this story a try. I was mainly inspired by Levi’s OVA, and also wanted to switch some time and places where the two are going to meet. Hope you enjoy.  
> Disclaimer: I do not tolerate any kind of slander towards this ship, there are plenty of ships and other stories on this platform to choose from. Simply pass this one, bestie.  
> Also, please enjoy the song recommendations for each chapter!  
> •u•

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The song of the chapter: The Tambourine Girls - Clara

Levi still couldn’t believe that he actually came to this one moment that he tried so hard to avoid with all cost. He just bought a boquet of flowers from the market and made his way to say his final goodbye to his last 2 rays of hope that lightened his dark path in life. 

“I-Isabel... “ He walked eagerly, feeling his eyes beginning to feel wet, a bitter taste on his tongue. He took a flower from the arragement and looks at it.“ Farlan... You cheeky bastards.” He chuckled softly, but the painful sting in his chest ballancedthe action. “ You really thought you couldn’t make the world a lonelier and shittier place as it already was, huh..” He raised his hand to wipe his damp lower lid, and continued his way, walking slower than usual, as the burden of all these years of having 2 loyal shadows beside you decided to bend the lenght of his spine and thestrenght of his morale. 

In the opposite direction, a fresh and free face made its way in the capital, the shackles of years living alone in the doomed square that represented that farm she grew up in losing the power that they once had over her . She was walking rather fast, a tinge of juvenile cheer in every step  she took. She was as marveled and surprised as she was estranged from this land. Historia decided that the weather was way too welcoming to not take off her greige hood over her head, that covered the chiseled features. You could have told that she wasn’t really from here. The only joy reminiscent of hers was the one of the children that played on the set of stairs of the tall buildings, some of them even pushing one another in the line in front of the bakery. “ This is the moment i was born for.. I just can feel it. Mmmh.. Is that what i think it is.. Apple pie? “ She smiled widely when her senses distinguished that familiar cozy breeze of baked goods. It really couldn’t get any better than this, she thought. 

She decided to turn around the corner so she can dive into a fresh piece of her childhood self, with cheeks beaming of the sweet kiss the sun welcomed her with. In that very moment, the clash was inevitable. She felt the tripping already happening and she was seconds away from falling on her face, but the difference was made when a strong and firm grip catched her and assured that she will stand straight on her feet again. 

“What in the shit f-“ ... he looked down at the bouqet of flowers that shattered partialy, two flowers breaking away from the colorful group and hitting the ground. 

“I am so so sorry, i really wasn’t paying attention where i was going, i didn’t mean to make such a mess. Damn i can be such a klutz sometimes—“ 

She really was stuck deep into her guilt trip, the one thing stopping her was the sight of him, not giving a single damn about her speech, just squatting down to put the arragement together once again. 

“Uhh.. Just don’t worry about it, yeah? Watch where you go next time and you’ll be perfectly fine” He kept his eyes down all this time, while being delicate and attentive with each placement he made, like every petal represented a part of his soul. 

“Mhm.. “ She sighed softly while placing a strand of her honeyed hair behind her ear. She squatted in front of him, looking with full atention at his features that were almost strategicaly hiding his eyes. She marched her hand towards one of the flowers, at that moment he raised his gaze at her. Blue clear and never-ending pools stared back at him with a shy, yet curious vibe, a smile in the corner of her rosy lips tying together the enigma of a feeling that traveled in Levi’s brain. 

‘ Maybe in another day, time, second, or place he would’ve shouted angrily at the very stranger in front of him, or he would’ve just throw one of his sharp and venomous -Tch- right in her pretty little face. But right now,his heart, head and body were all thrown in different directions and states.

”It’s not like i was looking forward to give flowers in this kind of situation, nor face it” he said bluntly, after that letting a sigh escape his lips. 

She gave him one of her sweet looks, even inocent if you may, and like some sort of intrigueing creature she could read between the lines when it came to his current nature. Almost like every other action that happened to him triggered something dark inside her. 

“ If you may eventually let me, i could help you make this current task easier and quicker for yourself and both of us”. She smiled in a fashion that made him question which of the scenarios in his head could she give a very welcomed help with, because he could distinguish some of them. 

“ Only if we switched the present scenario with a rather numbly pleasant one of you helping with placing a musket on the roof of my mouth. But right the actual now it let’s you only to stare back at a silly man making an even sillier mess on a public property. “ The placement of his piercing steel-gray orbs was now on her dreamy blues, slowly analyzing her beautifully carved features that hugged her expresion. Even him could appreciate that. He liked beautiful things, at the end of the day. 

“ I sadly only could give you a pitiful look and a possibly even more patethic walk away in this situation, can I, sir?” She blinked slowly, resting her eyelids comfortably a bit more lower, a ray of sunlight touching gently her features with warmth.

“...” He took the bud of the flower, ripping apart the base of it, and with a swift and gentle move of his hand, he reached for her right temple, placing the red flower behind her ear. 

“ Just as you pretty and blindfolded with storybook tales people do. Your tiny little hearts could not bare the sight of it. “ He gave her a last taste of hisintimidating gaze, then he chooses to stand up slowly, dusting his pants and fixing his shoulders. Right when he moves past her a few meters, she stands up and looks in his direction. 

“ I came here because i have to see someone there too. “ When he hears her phrase, he turned back to look at her, once again locking eyes with her oddly hopeful eyes. It scared him how quickly could one look from her give him a chill down his spine, like he really knew them from somewhere. Where is all that dejavu arriving from? 

“... Fine, I happen to know the shortcut towards where you wanna go. Come after me” He moves his hand in his direction, announcing her to move from where she is standing. The road towards the cemetery near the entrance of the Underground City was beggining to be more and more quiet, the only sound that was advancing shamelessly was the beating of her heart stinging her ears.The both of them reflected on the fact that the air entering their lungs was starting to be more cramped, and harsh, almost like the pinching of a thousands needles. Is that what it feels to share some same sort of pain. Even loneliness. It couldn’t be possible, not now that each of them opened a new chapter. 

They finally arrived in the silent grey garden, with way too many flowers falling apart. 

“Including some of your own someday. No mercy included.” He spoke almost to himelf, but the slight breeze in that afternoon bore the phrase towards the blonde girl’s ears. But they didn’t exit her other one. She knew she couldn’t play the role of the stranger little lady, her only bussiness being minding her little job that made her come here. She knew that this types of moment were what she had a heart beating in her chest for. For the first time, she felt like she stared at her own persona, only a different colour of hair, a different age and different views making the difference in their ability to mirror each other. 

“Including your own. What would’ve have been the idea of ‘moving on’ without something or someone leaving you alone, on your own. “ She approached 2 tombstones, that had the same branded blue symbol, which was her previous family crest. 

“Frieda... Uri... Hello there” She smiled widely when she met once again with the beautiful face of her uncle, Uri Reiss. Next to him, there she layed her eyes on the other pair of blues from the miniature picture engraved. “Frieda... How many stories i have to tell you still, including this recent one... It’s really not fun anymore that you are not around . “ Heat traveled towards her head, and her cheek was crossed by the slim strand of tears, silently. 

Levi heard every single word of hers, and because of that he really couldn’t bear to speak another sentence. No. It will spoil this moment he was living, the edge of some fantasy he had 11 years ago. It will be almost prophane to not let the girl he met just today speaking what he was feeling instead of himself. It was totally true, it’s not really fun anymore without them around. Depression swap him off his feet once again, there’s not really a reason to be waking yourself happily anymore, the more you stayed in this state, the more days up here are wasted. That is one of his biggest regrets.

She moved her head towards his direction, looking at his slouched figure that rose on it’s feet, just had finished laying each flower with both gentleness and anger at this messed up world. 

“It’s always like that towards the evening, when many candles are blown off, and only one of them is still standing. It’s regret not making the place dark anymore , choosing to disappear like the other ones, would it solve the problem? Or is it too clueless of what is behind all of this. Is—“ 

“ Is the life that countinues without them here, you wanted to say?” He approached her with 2 flowers in his hands, almost predicting his need of them in the future. She looked down at them, and slowlytook them from his hands, placing them carefully on each tomb, almost like a sweet and sour goodbye kiss. 

“ Nothing, and I mean nothing continues past them. It’s just some shit wiped idea to make you feel better about yourself, when in reality you should suffer after them, because that is what makes us alive. What makes their existence known to the future years and gives them purpose. They left for a reason. ” 

She falls silently in her own thoughts, understanding where his mindset is coming from. She chooses not to debate right now, only wanting him to open more. 

“ .. Do you blame yoursef? “ She comes back in her previous posture, now being close to him, almost to hear everything he says better. 

“ Half yes. Half no. Something could’ve had stopped what was happening. I could’ve been the one sliced in half by a giant shithead instead of them. Of course,something couldn’t at all. Someting bigger than us wanted me to be a dirty lab rat that goes through character development.Fuck all of the if’s and whats. It doesn’t matter what i feel once it was done and you can’t go back. “He looked back at her, almost wanting to crush that sky blue projecting eyes of hers, that made him see other points of view, beating his arguments. Again, maybe in another placement, time, hour, he would’ve yelled at her and show her what a smartass really is, but now.. Now? What is it about now that it’s so special. That makes him stray away from his plans. And especially, what was even with that wisdom behind her years?

“ What is the thing about you? You show up one day with a full assed grin, and decide to teach me about griefing? I thought the capital made sure that all the other creeps wouldn’t be entering the city that easily anymore. Tch. “ He  stared at her, beginning to feel somehow irritated, this situation was not sitting right with him. He should’ve been alone while seeing his departed best friends. Not along some runaway chick with some screws loose. 

“Well, i guess they skipped an important fellow. One that happens to love this kind of situation, because some thing wakes up inside of him, and that is making other points to be seen by you. “ she spoke in a voice that towered brave at him, being very serious about her intention. Historia wasn’t here and today to play games. She wanted to help him in any way she could. To stop some eventual actions that both of them would regret. 

“Fine. Finee. Fine. So we are living now under the premise that you will remove now 3 years of trauma with one swipe of your finger? I really wanna be your watcher, to see how much you fail.” 

“ Well, if you insist so much, i am very thrilled to be challenged like that, because i will so take you and show you the reasons to still be alive.  So you should scrub that stinky frown off of your face, because i am about to make the change! “ She was trying to look as determined as possible and to spat words back at him and his ego. 

He looked almost angrily at her, because a sensible point was just touched for him, and being not always right was it. 

“... Good. So we have a deal here I see. I give you a full day of today to actually make me feel something once again. See who this big girl in front of me really is. “ He tensed his shoulder when suddenly he felt the touch of her hand hovering over it, making him kinda ruining the steel like facade. 

“If this is all that is about, them i’m in. It is really just an easy game for me. I promise that you won’t regret it” She winked and smirked at him bravely, now shifting her hand towards his palm. 

“Now now, if you would step aside, i could show you how i really see this world. “ She smiled at him with reassurence, and then dragged him out of the doomy scenery, both of them saying goodbye to their past, as beautiful as it was. 

He just let himself be directed by her, almost projecting in her hands, realizing that he really needed actual help. His legs were literally melting under him, and definetly couldn’t bear the option of standing straight. 

“ Oi, oi, oi, are you somhow trying to break my legs in the process, slow down your pace a little bit. “ He frowned when she managed to make him dirty his she, jump walking like a cheerful version of a kid. 

“ First on the list of discovering reasons beyond reasons of this you’ll miss out on is .... Obviously the bakery down town that made us clash eventually. You will get a huge rush of serotonine just by smelling everything”She already fell deep into her fantasies and forgot about how fast her pace is, making him sometimes bump into onther people on the streets. When they finally approached the famous bakery, she stepped to the window, with a cheerful and bright face. “ Two apple and cinnamon pies, pleasee” She waited shortly for her order and thanked the nice lady that worked here, coming back to him with a wide smirk on her face. “ Try this and we can discuss about thanking me later. You won’t regret. Especially if you want to buff a little bit, young man. You look a little bit thin there. ” She raised his arm orizontally in the air, almost studying the thinness of it, and then passed under it so she can continue their walk. 

“Uhmm... Shaming too much? “ He raised a brow and shuffled his sleeves, but he couldn’t deny her telling. It was almost 4 days since he touched some actual food. Not that he would’ve noticed it. Plus adding the turbulent evening of smoking without a break one pack of cigarettes. 

“ Just taking care of you as part of this day only job” He could’ve sweared that her face started beaming with actual astral light, almost lifting the gloomy air that repeated around him. “Why did you come here. It has to be something really serious if you end up in a rotten city like this. “ He takes a bite out of the sweet pastry, actually enjoying the feeling of cozyness it gives him. Almost like the ones he was eating on his birthday, the sweet and spicy smell covering the winter coldness. 

“ Well, it’s not like i had any choice. I was on the verge of losing myself if I stayed one more day at that farm. Growing up alone has it’s perks. But at the same time, it reminds you how lonelier can life actually get. “ A vague smile was present on her dollish features, blinking slowly as she was reimagining her inside her room, looking through her window outside, sometimes making up little scenarios that she was waiting for a special someone to come home. 

“Hmm... Understandable.. I actually ran away from home as well. Not exactly how someone would call that hell hole of a place.” He ran his long fingers through his hair, turning his gaze once again to her. 

“ Something tells me you have dealt with too many thing by yourself”

She is chewing her pie with full cheeks, brushing a crumb off her lip. “ I am sure there is a reason for all that happened.” 

“Oh yeah?” He raised a brow. 

“Yeah.. If my mom wasn’t hating me so much with every inch or her being, maybe i wouldn’t be here, enjoying this beautiful dessert, in a totally strange to me city. Sometimes i feel like we are just some muppets in a very sadistic show. “  She puts half of her pastry in the brown bag, turning her gaze back at him. “ You should let people back into your life. It’s not going to do as much harm as it will give you a new purpose. “ 

He took a moment to process the words that she said to him, feeling the honeyed tone in her voice. Maybe she was right. Maybe she just tried to convert him into a mindlessly happy fantasy that he knew he couldn’t be part of. 

“ You are so blind for so many reasons, little girl... “ he looks down at the stairs underneath his boots, falling deep into thought. “ But if you are going to stay in this shit covered hole dressed in a peaceful capital, you will need someone to show you around. And make sure you don’t disappear mysteriously. In a vegetable sack“ he looks up at her, standing up back on his feet again, and reaches his hand towards her. 

“ You should come with me.” The sunlight was hitting his handsome and pale features, his piercing gaze stealing once again the show. His invitation ringed in her years, taking her and her rosy cheeks by surprise. 

She pulled a curious look at him, a large smile carving into her freckled cheeks. “ I knew we could make this fruity bussiness work. I actually couldn’t take you around here and play the runaways without freaking out. So you made convincing you to do it for me easier. “ She laughed and took his calloused and warm hand in hers, looking back at him with a playful spark. 

He just rolls his eyes and huffs in response, still wondering how could someone be so straightforward a puppy personality, yet so intriguing. 

“ Just keep your face hole shut and let me think about the next place to go. Or you want me to leave you right here? Cause i really can just do that. “ He raises a brow at her with a little bit of irritability in his tone, but he bluffed when she started to laugh again at him, earning a soft punch in the arm from him. 

“Ohh.. Sorry, i couldn’t take you seriously when you said that. “ She mimics wiping a tear from the corner of her eye, and took the lead for their next small journey around town. 

“ By the way, i haven’t got the chance to know your name. What is it? “ She took her cape off her shoulders, cause it began to get warmer outside, revealing her loose white shirt, tied with some sort of brown corset at her waist. 

“ My name is ‘yeah’” He looks at her while he thrashed the litter in the nearby garbage can, and placed his hands in his pockets. 

“Oh come on, stop playing around.. Fine. My name is Historia. Your turn.” she bumped her arm into him, walking ahead of him gingerly. 

“Did i even ask, blondie? I could’ve just stuck by Blondie, since is a more memorable name... “ seeing the puppy shine in her eyes that she chose to pull as her card, he sighed tiredly, running a hand through his hair. “ Levi. “ 

“Levi... Nice to finally meet your non-nameless version. Now.. Show me your favourite place that’s here, Levi. “ She stopped in the middle of the road, smiling even more than she was showing before. 

Almost like some thunderstruck, he felt that somehow he found a person that genuinely cares about his interests. And whose voice really succeded in spelling his name in such a unforgetable way. Almost demure, ripen.  Even if that person is not the most collected and serious of all of them. It still met his need to share a part of his life and himself sometimes. But it was way too weird that he felt that so soon, especially with this particular girl. 

“... You really don’t have anywhere to go back to, huh? You realize this is not some sort of vacantion in a warm place.” 

“ It can be if i want it to be. And... I already told you, i’m searching for a new place to call home. Unless you ban me somehow from Mitras. But you don’t look like someone who has a sweet word put with the military police. “ She chuckles and walked on the stone tiles under her feet, making some sort of pattern with her walk. 

He looks at the joyous figure in front of him, shaking his head when he felt a blush creep his cheeks. “ Fine, if that will make you not sting me in the arse with your happy go lucky personality. Jesus. Have you ever had a bad day in your life? “ He asks with the same ironic brow raise, adjusting the collar of his shirt and catching her up as he walked faster towards the honeyed head in front of him. 

“ Well, now i am making up for all the bad days that blurred everything in front of me, call it a karmic payement or something like that. “ She smiles and then abruptly stops in front of a bar that was striking with the loud sounds of instruments, and of course people having a good time in front of a pint of beer. “ Ohh my god, we should go here definetly, and maybe i can get a job here. “ Her eyes are shining with determination, and she wanted to enter the door right when a big hand was placed on her shoulder, stopping her from her tracks. “ Oi, listen here, you chewy brat. Maybe you have some plans in your foolish brain, but you don’t even have a place where you can stay.” 

“I can always book a room at a motel or something” 

“Only if you’re a big fanatic for abnormally large cockroaches and a special pet being a rat” 

“Not every single one of themare going to be that bad” 

“ Oh, actually yes if you find yourself right in this part of town.”

She bites the inside of her cheek a little bit harsh, and then turns her head towards him, speaking in a cocky tone. 

“ Then you should let me stay with you. Isn’t that the most reasonable solution?” 


	2. There’s a mockingbird in my heart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Song of this chapter: Wasteland, Baby! - Hozier

Right in his tracks, he stops almost flabbergasted at the nerve of the girl in front of him to say such things like this. It wasn’t even that big of a deal, but this question wasn’t quite made for someone who she really doesn’t trust completely, and only knows that person just for 6 hours. 

“Umm.. Are you right in the mind? It’s not even a day that has passed and you ask me that? Sheesh.” He looks up at the sky and notices that the day has really passed by obnoxiously fast, almost a second ago finding himself buying some flowers that he didn’t even plan to think about in the first place. 

She raises a brow at him, putting her small brown backpack at her feet just to massage the sore zone of the shoulder. 

“ What? It’s not like i asked you to take me home and undress me. We have all the time in the world for that. “ She looked at him jokingly, but soon decided to roll her blue iridescent irises when his face got even more horrified. “ Nevermind, i forgot you are the stern and tough one. Have you learnt what a joke means?” She lowers her kness a bit more so she can take her backpack and place it in the previous position, and decided to enter the wooden tavern that played a major role in setting the mood for the evening. Meals getting fried and cooked by the minute, pints of beer sitting overfilled on the long oaktables. 

“Hold the heck on, who told you to bust in like that?” He runs with the last drops of his patience after her, already catching the sight of her setting herself comfortable at a table in the corner, that was safe from the loud music that played in the center of the room. 

“ My stomach and my thirst told me. Make it quick and choose to order something, or you’ll just stay and watch me eat for the next half an hour. You could have the crumbs if you want. “ she winks at him, and soon she raised her hand at the beautiful waitress that just served some plates to another table. “ Excuse me, miss! Right here!” 

He sighed heavily and just lowered himself to sit down on the opposite bench, positioned right in front of her, not forgetting to treat her with a death stare. 

“ You are the most energy draining being and i wish i made you trip on those bakery stairs. Bullying is valid in this situation. “ He gives his temples a good rub, before getting his pack of cigarettes out of his pocket, putting them on the table. He places the fine cut cigarette between his pale lips, giving it a light. 

“ Oh, come on, buttercup, those type of shenanigans right on our first date? And i was about to pay for everything.” She smiles devilishly at her gloomy and rather tired companion, that didn’t even wanted to match her energy. 

Right in between of their exchange, the redhead and voluptious waitress came at their table, with her little scribble pad in her hand. “ How can i serve you two on this beautiful evening? Lady first?” She smiles widely, the pomegranate shade lipstick shining in a breathtaking way. And of course, Historia noticed it. 

“Of course, love.” She smiled with one corner of her mouth, while looking at Levi, and then she extended her hands on the table, mimicking a thoughtful look.” I will have 2 pints of beer, one for me and one for the sour faced darling in front of me. And a portion of steak and potatoes, please.” She played with his lighter between her fingers, her feet tapping as the beat of the drums that heated the atmosphere. 

“And you?” The waitress turned now to Levi, who was still sending imaginary knifes towards her tiny sized companion. 

“I will have the same as her. Thanks.” He takes a long drag out of his cigar, letting the smoke evacuate through his nostrils. 

Once the marvelous waitress leaves and reasures that their order will be right back at them, he took the steel lighter out of Historia’s hands, making her startle from her zoning out. “ What was all that about? Are you a vegetarian or something? If thats’s so, you shouldn’t have beef with me.” She chuckled softly at her own joke, but then she fixed her posture when the frown between Levi’s brows started to have a personality of it’s own. 

“ As generous as your empty blonde brain hole is, i do not drink. Just some food for thought.” He approached his lips again with his cigarette, not breaking apart the staring contest that he started. 

“Well, now you do, sweetheart. Now you do. “ She grins at him once again, reassuring him that he can’t wipe her mood at the snap of his fingers. “ In your situation, i would drink and make the bartender say that it’s all on the house. It’s a natural part of griefing.” She reached his hand with hers so she can squeeze it once, with a pitiful smile that was one of the few kinds that Levi hated to the marrow of his bones. He was not someone to feel mercyful around. Or to even feel pitiful towards. 

“Shake that off already, will you? Besides, i don’t get such a high from doing useless and boring shit as you entertain.” His fingers run through his hair strands, brushing the back of his neck. The red-head waitress appeared right on time and presented them their huge and wet pints of cold beer. As soon as she departed from their table, Historia gave the waitress a long look, almost absorbing every inch of her curves with her vision. 

The taste of the slightly bitter and fresh ale hit her taste buds, taking a long sip of it as she kept her eyes on the same new object of interest. “ Hmm, i think i’m already stuffed.” She yawned softly, letting her long strands of hair to fall on one of her shoulders.

He looked at her and already could’ve had figured out who was this entire performance dedicated for. With this, he takes a cigarette out if his pack, and threw it plainly at her. “ It’s not gonna happen. And riddle me this, why was I so sure that you would be that into the same team you are playing for?” He said as he took his time to study the golden liquid in front of him, raising the pint in front of his mouth. 

“ Ummm, maybe because I have a spicy personality? I don’t see what’s wrong with appreciating beautiful things. I sense a little jealousy from you,though. It reeks.” she raised her own pint, clicking it cheerfuly with his. “ Cheers for... Uhh... your undercut. Wish i came up with that kind of haircut first. “ She takes another long gulp out of the drink, at the end tracing the remained drop on her lip with her tongue. 

“ Jelous of what exactly? That i don’t have that size of hips to look good in a dress, or the toddler in front if me. Aren’t you twelve and already drinking like that?” He raises a brow at her, while a pale and smaller hand came quickly for him, because it reached for the half smoked cigarette between his lips, taking it to drag one hit herself. 

“ For your ignorant information, I am 19. And aren’t you supposed to drink some gallons of milk or something. Cause you have a spoiled growth. I wouldn’t speak if i ever had the height of a person skipping kindergarden.” She eyed him sharply and let the smoke leave her space between the lips, making herself even more comfortable by taking her shoes off of her sore traveler feet. 

“The inches went somewhere else. Wanna see?” He asks sarcastically and pointing down to himself, as he was getting more comfortable with the atmosphere here. Even though the design of the restaurant was a basic one that many of the ones in city had, he couldn’t separate this one from the bar that he knew from his early childhood. At a table more distant from them, he could see the pair that was ocuppying the seats: a middle aged man with long features and a large hat, next to him staying a raven and long haired boy with a red stain underneath his right nostril. The man next to him took a napkin from his chest pocket, and quickly covered his nose with it. “ You will not make me look funny with your badly manners, brat!” 

He was awaken by a shake of his hand by another who was warmer, when he turned he was greeted again with the pair of worth drowning into eyes. 

“ Hello there, sugar. I thought i lost you in the middle of my speech. The answer is no, i wouldn’t even want to mentally imagine the look of those inches, especially from a stranger. And one who is clearly not that lady that stole the show a few minutes ago.” She made an “X” sign with her fingers, looking back at his fresh out of dreaming awake facial expresion. 

“What ghost is haunting you now? I’m here to hex it.” She tilts her head in the right direction, shaking him once again to keep his attention on her. 

He fixes his vision once again, pinching the bridge of his nose. “ Too bad for wasting my proposal with someone who doesn’t appreciate my generosity. And the only ghost that haunts me is your clingy annoying ass. Go back to beying a lawn gnome. “ He smiles in his try to mirror her way of doing it, and their little moment was interrupted by the warm meals that were waiting to nurture them. 

“Thank you very much for your services. Here is a token of my appreciation, and also the payement.” Historia smiled gently at the waitress, and took out from the little compartiment of her bag a ring with a blue stone on it. This was mainly her only way of paying for different services and debts these days: with the last valuable objects that her family had. The waitress tilted her head without saying anything, already knowing that the small ring she was holding had a very good price on it. 

“ .. Since when are you changing the method of payement around here? You were looking even more like a gnome. A magic one at the end of the rainbow.” He puts out the cigarette in the metal ashtray in front of them, now taking one of the silverware from the table, serving a look at the warm meal in front of him. Deep down, he was actually grateful that someone made him so angry so many times today, that his appetite is making a come back. 

“Hmmm... Just thank me later for showing you this dish by giving me two extra blankets for when i sleep. I suppose i will not bend my bones on the floor, right? “ She takes a bite out of one steaming baked potato, looking him in his steel-gray orbs once again. 

He was cutting his steak into small and neat pieces, deciding to not return the gaze to her this time. Especially with a knife in his hand. “ And right when i fantasized about that aspect of your staying. Fine. I will be an emblematic guest and throw my things on the couch. Next thing we will never know.” He munches on the perfect bite of potato and steak he made, fixing his eyes back on his companion. 

“Good. This is a good start for the both of us. Maybe i will succeed in telling us a bed time story tonight. Your eyebags are screaming in my face without vocal chords needed.” She laughs as she takes another bite of the delicious and comforting food, feeling actually at peace in this moment. She felt happy and safe right in the spot she was staying. And having a more than less entertaining person to share this time is more than she could asked. 

“You know, my grandma always told me that people in the city are ruthless and don’t take care of each other, and that i always should be sticking with my own kind... But i can already tell that this was meant to be, Levi. This two of us coming to one another.” She was surprised to see his freshly taken aback face of his, wondering if there were people that told this to him enough times in his life. 

He pauses from digging more into the delicious dish, sertting aside the fork and knife on each side of it, trying to process the moment that they both shared right now. Even though he wasn’t going to admit this very soon, he was amazed at how quickly someone can direct their interest and good intentions to other persons. 

“ And you are not really that bad yourself, kid.” He approached the pint of beer once again, taking a gulp out of it as he was searching for her gaze once again, wishing she could read the appreciation that was subtle from him. 

When she hears the slight positivity that he wanted to spread with that phrase, she smiles widely, feeling like she held his persona rather good. Who thought the day will end in such a manner? 

“ Were they hinting towards something from the past?” She was asking about the pair that Levi stared at for a few minutes straight, feeling drawn towards the next answer she will get from him. 

“ More or less. Yeah. The smug peepaw made me remember about a special kind of asshole that dragged a miniature sized one after him.” He stops through his meal, feeling quite stuffed knowing he ditched all his meals the previous day, and decides to light another cigarette to comtemplate with it in his mouth. “ What do you have to brag about yourselt with? I am sure the runaway status is hiding quite a thrilling story behind it.” He drowns her within his intense way of looking, taking a long drag from the cigarette with his head tilted backwards, his adam apple peeking through the profile. 

She pays attention to the slight gestures he makes, playing slowly with the food on her plate. “ Oh, i though i already enlightened you on that topic. Everyone in my family is gone more or less. My mother was like that even when i was alive. She made the “hands off me” rule work around her. Until one day when i wanted to see how she reacted if i jumped in her embrace, like all affection thirsty kids do. And you just get ignored enough for a long time... and it’s just nice to feel special sometimes. She pushed me back. She didn’t caress my head and the scab under my nose then. The last thing she told me was to not make her life more painful than it already was. She just left the next day.” She smiles with a tinge of sadness in her storyteller voice, taking a napkin from the table so she can pat the corners the mouth.

“ And can you believe it? I was blaming myself probably 14 years without a break because i thought i was too ugly to deserve love. Too stubborn. I mean, who’s father doesn’t want to see their kid at least one second in their entire life. “ 

Listening to her not worthy of celebrating memory that she decomposed for him, he realises that the pieces were starting to glue together. They somehow related through this past experience, because even when he was announced as a pregnancy, his father wasn’t around anymore. He dusted the ash from his cigarette, analyzing her movements and the slight change of the tone of the girl in front of him, almost like some little version inside her was breaking apart once again just because of remembering. 

“ I was asking myself the same question at that time, because nothing was making sense to me. I thought every kid was recieving some sort of praise from their parents just by the simple task of existing. And it was true, every kid got that, but not me.” His slight smile fades rather quickly from his sculptured features, now the smoke raising in the air from his lips. She was intrigued by the soft tinge of pain he was serving to her as a payback for her sharing her own. 

She just raises from her spot at the table, and decides to slide on the same bench that he was staying on, taking a seat next to him. “ I’m not trying to make you feel special or make you deny your past in any way. But... We are all special only just by being born in this world. “ She takes one cigarette from his package, and she reaches forward for his own, helping herself to light it up with his burning cigarette. 

“ The fact that our parents failed to show that at the rightful time is not changing this thing by any means. Is it now the turn for other people that enter your life to make that statement to you. And you know it. Because you want to make people feel special and like they are needed. Even if you don’t know this yet.”She reached for one of his longer hair strands and places it behind his ear, making him shiver a bit with this action. 


	3. Firewalk with me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Song of the chapter: Alrighty Aphrodite - Peach Pit

He clears his throat after what it felt like an entire minute has been frozen in time, slightly withdrawing his head in the opposite direction from her. “ I am dead sure that you just got drunk off half of that beer of yours. Because nothing you said or did made any fucking sense.” He gives her a bored and void of emotion look, finishing easily his drink at that moment, even though he couldn’t compare this cheap beer with the peaceful taste of his own brewed earl grey. 

She just chuckles at his words adressed to her, and then she drags another smoke of her cigarette, before letting it rest between her fingers. “ You know, you remind me so much of someone that was so dear to  me. Maybe that’s why i don’t have any inhibitions when i am with you.” Historia takes a better look at her mate, almost making sure that her belief was true. 

He once again raises a brow at the blonde, resting his back on the wooden bench, caught by curiosity. “ Is that so? You had an imaginary friend that is a look a like of mine or?” He asks the question with only satire on his mind, even though he wouldn’t ever come to confess, it was actually comforting to have someone to speak with. 

She just bumped his shoulder with her clenched fist, furrowing her brows. “ Noo, not like that. Or maybe i wish it was like that. I wouldn’t have hurted so badly afterwards when she left then” She smiles. “ Her name was Ymir. She was this girl that i met when i was still a kid.” She looks fixated at her hands, brushing off the ash that was resting on the table. “ She had those big brown eyes that were always narrowed, almost like she was disgusted by the world” She laughs softly at her vivid image in her brain. 

“One day we became friends and she appeared at the fence of the farm. She convinced me to go against my parents and leave the place for one day, showing me that there is more than just the people that worked there and my grandparents that hated me so much.” Her smile fades quickly when she looked down at the scar that was placed on her palm, one that she got when she was out on different adventures with Ymir. “ She convinced me to not hide myself anymore, and not to use my fake name at all. Mother told me that no one wanted to know about the existence of a bastard of my father.” She takes a sip of her beverage quietly, now laying her eyes back on Levi. “ She had the same eyes as you, even the way she was talking. The way she moved. One day, she was taken away by a group of Wall fanatics, and since that day i never saw her again.” She rests her chin in her palm, sighing at the memory. “ It all felt like a fever dream i had a long time ago. I really liked her a lot. She wasn’t treating me like a burden like everyone did.  I guess when you’re young, you just believe there’ll be many people…you’ll connect with. Later in life, you realize it only happens a few times.”  She hugs her arms when crossing them, turning her blue eyes back at the view of him. “ And i can tell that you are similar to her. Kind-hearted.” 

He listens to another one of her childhood memories, almost making him feel like he missed some friend in his own days as a kid. 

“ I am sorry for that. She sounded like a real pal to have around. Still, i am  no replacement. “ Levi took the lighter and the package from the wooden surface of the table, putting those back in his pocket. 

“Hmm.. Right. I wouldn’t even ask you for that. “ She just gives him one of her understanding smiles, before raising from her seat, reaching to the other side of the table so she can grab her backpack. 

“ Shall we leave this place?” She looks at him, seeming like he was ready for that too. 

“ After you, miss tragedy.” He passes by the table and waited for her to march ahead towards the exit door, sticking his hands in his loose pockets. He set his gaze at the girl in front of him, whose long hair was swaying playfully around her when she walked, making him wonder how would it have been if he met her sooner. She was so simple. A country darling among peculiar and sucked out of life city fellows, learning to enjoy her surroundings when others forgot how to do that. She indeed was a beauty, almost like a creature that appeared from another realm to bless this godforsaken land with no hope left inside of it. It almost made him cry looking at her. 

It almost took him back when he was just 3 years old, and his dear mother told him infinite stories about angels hiding them below the ground, protecting the people from the disaster that roamed above them. But he still prayed for the day of facing that disaster. 

Soon, his drift through his memories was shattered by the voice of the girl next to him, who was looking rather worried. 

“ Hey, are you still with us, the people living on this planet?” She pinched his cheek rather hard, making him startle and throw an offended look. “ Good, so you are. I was saying that if you don’t feel comfortable with me staying at your place, I can find one of my own. I don’t want to bother you, especially on this day. You know how much of a hustler i am.” She smiled candidly at him, waiting for his response with attentive eyes. 

He shook off his head, searching for the keys of his place inside the pocket. 

“ No, that is out of question. You are not bothering anyone in here. Besides that, i still want to see you in one piece tomorrow and not dismembered in a bag.” He reassures her that their agreement was totally fine, and walked together on the quiet and stone filled alley that leads towards a cream coloured building, with a design deeply rooted in german patterns. She looked amazed at the building they stood in front of, preparing herself to enter inside. They climbed the 2 sets of stairs and arrived at the door, Levi taking the lead in front of her so he can unlock the entrance of the humble place. 

“ Don’t forget to take your shoes off. We are not at your rustic cottage anymore, coming after a whole day playing in the dirt.” He bends a little bit so he can take his brown tall boots off, as soon as he walked in the room, he lit up a few candles so they can manage to see better. 

“ Yeah, of course we aren’t, freak.” She rolls her eyes at his harsh comment, doing the same gesture as him and resting her backpack against the wall on her right. 

“ Well, this is a very nice and cozy place. I wasn’t expecting it to be so...” She rubs her finger against one of the wooden furnitures, even though it appeared to be old enough, it was cleaned to perfection.” ... Tidy” She almost felt ashamed of herself because even if she tried her best, she wouldn’t get such a good result from cleaning. 

“Thanks... That’s just the difference between us and the rest of the animals. How we preserve the place we live.” He looks curious at her as he unbuttoned two of his buttons of the white shirt, then walking next to the fireplace so he can lit it up. It was rather chilly that night, and he definetly didn’t afford a delivery of germs coming from a possible cold. 

“Well yeah, just didn’t expect a guy to be so better at doing this. It almost hits the spot for a passion of some sort.” She chuckles and then takes a hairband she had on her wrist, using it for pining her hair in a low ponytail. 

He uses a match to lit up the wood chunks, placing his palm near it so he can feel the slight breeze of warmth. “ Interesting. So you are implying that just because i am a man, i should live in a reeking pig hole?” He turns his face towards her, letting her sit next to him on the olive green carpet, in front of the fireplace. She smelled the air around, and could definetly sense hints of mint, chestnuts and lemon. It was extremely comforting, like they were swimming in a huge teabag. 

“Not necessarily. But not making the task your entire personality.” She eyed him jokingly, and hugged her legs as she rested her chin on her raised up knees. 

“ I am not making it a part of my personality. Shit, you make me regret even letting you to take your shoes off at the entrance.” He mirrors her with the posture, resting his head on the soft spot of the couch behind them. His head was spinning all day long, and he now realises he needed another drink to ease his feeling. 

“You know, this just confirms that it is another sign of your trauma. You trying to control even the smallest flock of dust.” She elbowed him slowly, now looking at his average and sturdy figure that raised up so he could go near the small coffee table on the other side of the room, taking a bottle with dark brown liquid in his hand.

“Rum or gin?” He fixes his gaze in her direction, now observing that she made herself more comfortable on the red and warm couch. 

“Whatever you’ll have, I don’t mind” She said as she took her backpack so she can search for a particular thing. It was a leather coated book with over four hundred pages, on it’s cover being illustrated an apple that was held by two different hands. One of them was one that seemed to resemble the fingers of a monster. The other one was the small hand of a teenage girl. Specs of gold we’re painted on the shining regions of the drawing. 

“ What bible are you holding in your hands? Are you going to exorcize the trauma out of my body?” He speaks softly as he poured the brownish liquid in one of the short and robust glasses, licking the tip of the bottle as he was finished. 

“Pretty much, yeah. It’s just a memory of mine that a hoarder as i am couldn’t let behind” She smiled as she touched slowly the fine cover of the book, being careful as she dusted it. The nostalgia was a beautiful rush inside her right now. 

Levi eyes curiously the “bible” in question, letting himself be comfortable as he sat down again on his spot on the carpet, handing the girl beside him her glass. 

“So basically this was the book i read the most when i was a kid. My sister showed it to me. It’s about this girl that makes a pact with the Earth Devil. I loved this story so much that i even told people to call me Christa, like the girl starring in this book” She laughs at the memory of her old foolish self, opening the book at the page which she loved the most.” See this? This is my favourite part of this story.” She placed the other half of the book near him, so he can have a better view of it. 

Next thing he knew, a memory he tried hard to block from his head appeared once again to harass his state of mind. He took a long sip of his strong beverage, looking right at the part of the book that was casted in the natural shadow of her hand: The Devil. 

He was 7 years old by now. Being under Kenny’s not so helpful wing was already a common thing about Levi. They were standing outside on a bench, the boy having a large knife at his side and a book dropped on his lap, while his fear instigating uncle was peeling an apple with his own blade. 

“Now, ya’ know your old fart of an uncle didn’t fool around with words and all that jazz. But lucky fo’ ya’, there are some pictures you could stare at with your bug eyes.” He cuts a piece of the apple, pushing it between his thin and vicious lips.“ Aye, just open it already, punk!” He pinched little Levi by his ear, following him as his little bruised hands opened the book in front of him. He never got the chance to a proper education, his only teaching consisting in only knowing how to asfixiate a bigger oponent and of course handling his knife. 

Curious clear grey eyes were scanning the pages inside of it, his fingers stopped sliding when he found the 2 page lenght illustration that was rather eerie. A long haired girl that looked like she was around his age, holding in one hand a fresh red apple. In front of her, a hooded and big creature with sharp teeth and shiver giving claws was waiting for their exchange. 

“See that, lil twig? That’s what i raised you to be all this time.” Kenny moved his long and calloused finger towards the hooded Devil, tapping twice on the picture. “ A living beast between some dirty and stinky earthlings. This is how you’ll make sure ya will stay alive in those trying times we face as Ackermans. Showing no mercy, boy.” One he finished with peeling the fruit in his hands, he offered the fresh and mouthwatering fruit to the young boy, whose eyes couldn’t unglue from the picture in front of him. He moves his finger towards the mysterious girl, wondering what made her do this.

“ And what about her?” The boy spoke with a soft voice, almost sounding ghostly. He wasn’t much of a conversationalist, the only ways he was thought were the physical ones. 

“Huhh? Whacha babbling about?” Kenny raised an eyebrow at his question, soon his facial expression starting to grow into a mischevious grin. 

“Soon you will find out, my boy.” 


	4. Sentient Adolescent

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Song of the chapter : Matt Maltese - As The World Caves In

The confusion in the little boy’s eyes was visible, like some sort of riddle was left in front of him to solve for the next years that would come. He knew that his shit show entertaining uncle had a few pieces missing from his head, but that phrase still stayed glued to him up to date. 

“ Hey, silly boy, snap out of it!” The rather harsh and not pleasing to the ears voice was exchanged for the feminine and velvety tone of a curious young girl, who was wondering how many times will she be present in front of his short dissociation from this realm. “ You are starting to scare me everytime you pull that face. What is occupying your mind so violently?” She rested the voluminous book on her legs, her arm crossing the pillows of the sofa. 

“Huh... Nothing. It’s just nothing. Getting old and rusty by the second, i guess.” He sighed and took the longest gulp of the night from his chocolatey coloured drink, placing one of his palms against the finely trimmed undercut. “ It’s just you that is analyzing every action i make too much. It’s not that deep.” Levi turns to her with a questionable look, trying to stay away from diving again through his vivid memories. He does that enough in his sleep those days. 

She throws a suspicious glare at him, before tapping his knee twice. “ Well, it’s not my fault that i am not customized to your weird rituals. You are really a weird man, you know.” She smiles lightly before turning the page of the book, where the black ink writing was occupying most of the space. “ My favourite detail about this book is that neither the girl or the Devil plays the evil one. They both see each other from different points of views. She even dares to see him as humane. Funny, isn’t it? ” Her eyes were playfully wandering through the perfectly written words, while the man next to her was savouring the pleasant tinge of spice on his tastebuds, watching attentively as her dainty and milky hand moved across the texture of the yellowish and crisp pages. If he payed even more attention to the action, he could even think that the pages were bending and flipping at her own demand, like she was using some sort of old and forgotten witchcraft. The small buds of fire were flying inside the cozy and embracing fireplace, the cracking of the overheated wood tingling in Levi’s ears, almost making his flesh costume curl on his bones from the pleasure. Without wasting any moment, he gently poured another glass just for the sake of it, being careful to not forget about his new companion’s glass, even though hers was missing just a sip or even two out of it. 

As the liquid was hitting the inside of the glass and stealing the shape of it, an intrusive sort of thought appeared in his mind, one who was wandering how her small and delicate hands were feeling on his own devil in disguise skin. At the thought of it, he flinched and almost spilled some of the pouring alcohol on the table in front of him. Which was very out of character coming from himself. 

“Shit! Indeed I am morphing into an useless grandpa.” He clicked his tongue at the small mess he made, it’s size couldn’t change the angry aspect of his mood now. 

As soon as that happened, Historia took one handkerchief that was carefully placed on the arm of the sofa, putting it on the wet spot that stained the small sized table. 

“ Yeah, i can agree with that. The only thing missing from your look is a long string of saliva hanging from your mouth.” She chuckles softly, quickly changing the mood that was hanging in the air. It was like a reassurement for Levi to not make such a big deal out of it, because nothing could ruin this cozy picture they were making a part of. Definetly, nothing could have felt any better than the feel of her gentle and spontaneous touch of her palm on his fingertips, clashing casually when she tried to ballance herself. 

Now, the painting looked something like this: Historia staying on her knees on the carpet, with the handkerchief in one hand, the other one finding it’s support in the calloused and bigger hand of Levi’s. Her face was flushed from the warmth of the drink and of the fire, the closeness between their faces almost being too loud for them to bear. He couldn’t move at all in this kind of situation, because the beauty of it paralyzed and humbled him completely. Being so close to such a raw and carved out of a painting girl, with the light and warm touch of a feather could only spark another fire in this room, which was inside of his chest. Her eyes were literally two glowing astral bodies at a blinding pace, his only need now being to be drown inside of them. What a beautiful and poetic death could that be, he said to himself. Her well gifted and recieved touch was almost like she telepathically recieved his wish in her head, now his wish being her only command. 

His mind was wandering in so many places. Contemplating time, space, her soft skin that was touched so deliciously by the light of the flames, her golden locks falling on her chest and covering one of her eyes, almost to make her seem even more foreign from him. Her fleshy and voluptious lips were slightly parted, making the drunk and aroused side of him desiring to glue instantly to their texture, to feel them on every inch of his skin. To taste that long and thin neck of hers. 

Was this a goddess that he just summoned with all the sins he ever made stacked together. Here to avenge the dead and stretch his hands to the sky. 

All the poems and quotes in the world, but he couldn’t come up with the praising that she deserved. Oh to be layed entirely on this old and went through many scarring things carpet under him and being totally at her  mercy, punishing him for staining this Earth with his existence. 

She appeared to be as mesmerised as him, her doe eyes exploring cautiously every inch of his facial skin, even discovering a healed scar that kissed his sculpted cheek, all up to his thin eyebrow, splitting it in half in a beautifully crafted flaw. It wasn’t even considered a flaw if that scar was placed on such a godly figure as him. She couldn’t dare to deny that he was a very handsome man. As tragic and rough he seemed when he spoke his naturally spikey words, now he was more beautiful than ever. A hero from her old storybook tales that she read as a child. His slightly pale lips were completely shut, almost like he didn’t want to spoil this ethereal moment they both were experiencing. And she was grateful from the old gods to the new ones for that. But she had only one regret in her heart right in that moment: that she didn’t drink that much that evening to correctly justify a possible kiss she was thinking about giving. She chose to close down that little fantasy in hear head, before she actually ends up regretting her decisions. 

"You will never age for me, nor fade, nor die. To you, 2000 years from now." She whispered slowly so only the two of them could be the witnesses of the sweet words that vibrated between her rosy and far too empty lips. Was she really the same childish and uncensored self that she introduced herself to him not too long ago? Because Levi couldn’t distinguish what was real and what was colorful fiction. 

“...What do you mean by that?..” He blurted the question just as slowly and quietly as she did, his eyes not budging from the direction they were stuck in. With all his inner strenght and liquid couraged he ingested, he dared to only rub his thumb gently against her chin, just to feel a little bit of her warmth. And damn, she was not as soft as he thought. She was even more mesmerising at the touch. His hand lowered down back on the floor, her lips parting gently even more when she felt his skin caressing hers even for a few seconds. How could a person make her feel so hot just by doing the bare minimum of connection? She tried hard to keep her composure in front of him, lifting the wet material from the surface of the table. She mentally scolded herself for that not being the only dampen material in the room right now. Desperate girl, she told herself. Romanticising the first guy that comes towards her. 

“That is the last phrase from this book before the story and the world ends. You can look up if you don’t believe me.” She slowly smiled to him, taking one more addicting glimpse of his inviting eyes and the little drop of rum that hanged on his carnal lips before fixing her posture and raising on her feet so she can throw the handkerchief in other place. 

As soon as she parted away from whatever they both had going on for five minutes straight, he fixes his voice with a cough, placing himself back on this sofa with his darling companion in a glass next to him, taking a sip as he watched her sway to the opposite part of the room, her body resembling a ghostly creature that departed from his earlier fantasy. 

‘Get a grip of yourself, you predatory scum’ he internally shouted to himself because of his reactions, not wanting the biological side of his nature take the lead this evening. 

“No need to check it for myself. You are not looking like someone who could lie so easily to someone without getting caught.” He said with a husky and tired voice, tapping the surface of the sofa a few times while looking at her, pointing to her to take a seat as she returned in front of the table. She gulped slightly at his gesture, before setting herself comfortable on her seat with the book in her palms. She was quite a good storyteller if he was honest. He never felt this dreamy and near to drift to sleep as he was right now. It was a new ritual he was getting accustomed to. 

“Where we were at before your old peepaw mess you made? Or you are not even able to remember the previous ten minutes of your life that have just passed?” She jokes as she was resting her blonde head on the soft cushion, running her gaze through the words marked on the page. “Also, trying to outdo the doer? I built myself on lies almost half of my life.” 

“Oh, won’t you eat shit and go away from here. It wasn’t like i needed the help of a brat to fix my own mess.” He extended his legs even more on the comfortable sofa, almost to make her feel even more crowded, as if her thoughts weren’t enough. “ Besides, i decided to play the nice guy tonight, cause i didn’t mention once the spot you missed on the floor.” He smirks devilishly and finishes his glass once again, deciding to put a stop to his drinking session for the moment, he wasn’t trusting his control settings right now. 

“ Aren’t you the sweetest gentleman i ever layed my eyes on? You ressurected the chivarly with only the help of both of your hands.” She sticks her tongue at him, the gesture only earning from him a slight nudge in the hip with his foot. 

“Anyways, as i was saying, the girl in front of him stayed still and showed no fear to the so called beast in front of her. It was almost like he was planning all  his life to meet the little young and flourishing girl in front of him. She carried all her questions about life and meanings of her surroundings inside her little braided basket. Inside of it layed different kind of fruits. There was placed a peach, some figs and between them a shining and ripen golden apple. On her way towards the Devil’s realm, she gave every entity she met one of her delicious fruits as a symbol of their union and acceptance. But each time the girl exchanged presents with those entities, years from her life were progressively shortened out, until she reached the life span of 13 years left on this earth. Looking in the glowing and yellow Devil’s eyes, she decided to offer him as a token of her appreciation the marvelous golden fruit in her basket. His eyes blinked in a lazy gesture, a long scar being engraved on the left side of his face. “ As Levi was listening to the story being described skillfully by the small details, he gently raised his hand so he can touch the left side of his face, where his own old scar was having an affair with his pale and clear skin. 

“She gently placed it between her fingers, scrubbing it’s surface with the edge of her brownish skirt before reaching her hand towards the hooded creature.” She softly let the words leave her mouth while narrating the mystical chain of events of the story, as her sweet as honey tone was invading Levi’s ears, he felt the analgesic effect on his throbbing temples. As the tale progressed, he felt how his lids grew more and more heavier, the alcohol stained blood in his veins travelling calmly in every region of his body, carrying his body towards a state of never-ending bliss. He chooses to close his eyes, completely being charmed by Historia’s ways of speaking every word. She could even curse him and his entire previous generation with that voice, and he would feel like he listened to a sweet lullaby. 

His shoulders are slumping down, as the tension leaves his body, a peaceful facial expression now hugging his face. He looked like a sound babe in that state. 

Being this quiet for so long only made Historia be worried about his sanity, because he is not a man to not complain about syrupy stories if they are told to him. She moves her face towards the sleep haunted figure of Levi, her mouth growing gradually in a large and pleased smile. 

“ And then the mysterious girl raised one of her knees to kick butt him in the face like the little son of a bitch that hooded slug was.” She invented a turn to the plot of the book, trying hard not to laugh when she realised that her recently made friend was totally in a different galaxy and wouldn’t give a single damn about what she wanted to say. 

“ Good, so you are indeed gone. My mouth started to get sore anyway.” She slowly closed the pages of the book, placing it gently in the table in front of them, and remained still to observe his blissful and at peace expression. Suddenly, she raises herself up so she can go around the room, in search for some sort of blanket so she can cover him with, even though the warmth from the fire was more than enough to preserve his sweet sleep. 

Historia soon came acroos a small and narrow wardrobe, deciding to roam around inside of it until she is satisfied with what she discovered. Right at the second to the top shelf it was neatly folded a cream coloured and soft blanked, making her raise on her toes so she can reach to grab it. When she succeeded in getting her hands on it, a green material peeked from the same shelf she touched, catching her curiosity along with her attention. 

She slowly does the same gesture she did again, reaching with her fingers so she can grab whatever that material was resembling. Soon, the mysterious object of her wondering fell from the inside of the wardrobe, dropping right on the top of her head. 

“ Going for a shot at the forehead just like it’s owner, huh?” She takes the green material off of the crown of her head, blowing off some strands of hair that were messed on her face. Historia takes a better look at the cloth and stretches it in her hands, taking a better look at what appeared to be a cloak of some kind. She flipped it around so she can inspect the back of it, and right when she turned it back towards her she saw a very well known symbol, big sized and engraved on the army green coloured cloak. The symbol resembled two wings that we’re painted in two different colours, one of them being white and the other complimenting it with a dark blue shade. 

“... Wings of Freedom.” She whispered to herself, as she gazed up towards the shelf she took the cloak from, spotting other 2 of the same kind, but a reddish stain was peeking through the material. 


	5. Of Night Terrors and Men

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The song for the chapter: Mitski - Cop Car

It was rather odd to see those significant cloaks in this place. No matter the region of the walls you were living in, even the farthest of the people knew all about the big  name and responsability that the Survey Corps holds as a collective. Or more true to the recent times, held. It was about 6 months that have passed since the Survey Corps branch was abolished because of the countless failed missions and thousands of lives lost for nothing but vain. No matter how much power and strong will were poured inside of each soldier that dedicated their heart for the large scale beating heart of the humanity, they were always outnumbered by the mindless beasts that wondered outside the walls, preying on new flesh to devour and families to tore apart. Experiments in the interest of gaining knowledge about the titans were banned as the ruling of the Church blurred the lines between the power of the parliament and the involving of the Wall Cult. They were considering such activities as staining the soul from the true path of a Subject of Ymir, almost praising the Devils wishes and getting you an unavoidable death penalty. Commanders in top of the hierarchy were imprisoned for putting so many lives in danger and causing damage towards the humanity’s population, masking them with the face of the world’s worst enemies. Pastor Nick was the ruler of the government that stepped on each of our own necks, but as most living in fear people like to say, he was just the “Holy Adviser”, forcasting useless prophecies for brainwashing the next few generations yet to be born. 

She placed the cloak closer to her chest, almost hugging it tightly so her heartbeat can flourish inside the thickly knitted fabric, resting her chin on it and digging her nose into it. Her senses alerted her of the same woody, musky scent that she recognized a few hours ago inside of Levi’s house, the smell of lemony soap reassuring her that this was indeed his former Survey Corp cloak. It was almost as it was brand new, she couldn’t put the pieces together when it came to how he succeeded in preserving it in such a neat condition. She smiles when she imagined him wearing it, along the rest of it’s uniform that was bedazzled with the brown and tight belts designed for the ODM gear. She wished she could’ve reached the day when he was still a part of this army branch, dedicating himself to make the world a greater place by fighting with his raw and unstoppable rage. Then she realised that he probably missed those rushes of adrenaline he got from the missions. From being a tool that was used in the name of all the helpless lives that are trapped here. Maybe he thinks he lost his purpose by losing a huge role he played. At the same time, he should feel relieved. Gaining back a normal life might be a good way to take a break from all the hard work and the tons of paperworks that travelled from an unit to another. What was his last wish in this situation? Did he had somehow a desire to continue until the death catched up with him, making him waste away under the prerogative of being a hero? 

Historia turns her eyes filled with never ending questions towards the sleeping man on the couch a few steps away from her, trying to dissect every detail about his personality by herself, almost like a torture for the mind. “ Is this one of your regrets hidden in your chest, Levi? Am I right?” She voices her thoughts quietely, making sure to not surpass even the sound of the cracking wood underneath the fire, soon deciding that it was time for her to hide the clues of her wandering through his personal belongings. She thought this was a slightly bitter discussion to have for another time with him. She returns back to her previous task and walks back towards the sound and peaceful sight of the young man in front of her, his slight pout that has formed making her smile even more. She approaches him slowly so she can cover him nicely and evenly with the soft texture of the blanket, covering him just a little bit over his lower lip. 

“ Aren’t you a softie when you are not awake terrorizing people that have a good time?” She speaks more to herself, still towering over his comfortable figure, being touched internally as he nudged his face even more into the depths of the blanked, hiding himself just like a cat. 

Without putting too much thought into her actions, she reaches even more towards him, planting a sweet goodnight kiss on his bare forehead, where his raven coloured bangs weren’t meeting. 

“ Dream prettyfully for me, old man.” As she made sure he was comfortable in that position, she turned back to her previous standing place, yawning softly as the night was now ruling the scenery seen through the windows. She chooses to sit down on the cozy, one sit only sofa that was placed near the one that Levi occupied, as soon as her legs crossed in a comfortable position, she closed her heavier than ever lids, finding herself in a territory where only dreams were allowed to be around her and only her. 

Her shoulders are detoxifying from every particle of tension and rigid feeling, curling up gingerly with one big pillow in her arms, which she hugged tenderly. 

For a few moments, her eyes could only percieve the pitch black surroundings and her body becoming more senseless as she was drifting in a state of deep sleep. Soon, the view was starting to get more vividly coloured and animated. Pouring rain made it’s debut in the background, playing a big role for the soundtrack that entertained the dream realm. She looked rather tall in it. And her hand was switched for one that had to be three times as big as hers. And especially, she noted, it was a manly one. She reached for a broken piece of glass that layed near her brown and sturdy boot, placing it gently between her now thick and long fingers. 

Historia couldn’t believe her eyes when she stared back at the reflection that sucked the last bit of her older personality out of herself. She had some very strong features, an aquiline nose and a short slicked on the sides haircut. Her hair was still blonde, she thought. The man resembled into the broken glass was very handsome, with eyes that pierced through the sky and back to the earth. But the burden of seeing him was so suffocating and heavy. Like he hides a very dark secret with him. 

She tries to move her right arm, but she was surprised when her nerves didn’t respond to her motor command. They weren’t even present there in the first place. It looked like the man’s body she occupied was missing an arm. It was too real for a dream, she thoght. She even felt the rain hitting her blood stained face. 

“Erwin, I said do you hear me?” The man in front of her was more easy to recognize, because it was to her own biggest surprise Levi himself. She didn’t know what to do in that situation, as she was frozen in her shocked state. 

“ L-Levi? What are you doing here?” She asked him with a very troubled and confused look, because she didn’t knew what role was she playing in here. 

“Erwin. Stop playing around. I already said what i had to say. You have no right to speak back to my face, unless you want me to turn you into a dummy doll when i get rid of your other limb.” He says it with a rather painful tinge in his voice, a lump in her throat creating while she watched the dialogue developing in front of her. 

“What do you mean by that? I really don’t understand what are you reffering to. Levi.. “ She was trying to make him respond to her and not to the persona she stole just for this one scenario, her confused brain trying to process. 

“ Give up on your dreams and die, Erwin. “ Soon after this phrase was leaving Levi’s lips, his calloused hand reached for her eyes, covering them with his palm, as if he tried to protect this Erwin from what was about to happen in the near future. 

“Levi, please!” Soon, a sharp pain traveled through every inch of her body, as a long and sharp blade travelled towards her neck, making her lose any kind of sound she was about to scream in the hope that someone will come and find her. 

But the pain stops. The rain stops. Levi’s hand that was used as a blinder disappeared from her skin. Now she was on her knees, while someone was holding her by the hair on the top of her head, making her watch the scene in front of here. There she was. In the most righteous meaning of what she wanted to mean. A younger version of herself was held in the same position as she was forced to stay in, but behind her was totally a different person than the one old man that was behind her. It was a younger version of Levi. He had the same hairstyle and the same eyes as he has now. He was holding a sharp and pointy knife in his hands, threatening the little Historia’s neck with it. 

“Please don’t come around with doing it. I know you don’t want to actually do it. You are such a great kid, Levi.” She shouted from the place where she was staying, her action only making the tall and old man pull her even more by the scalp, making the blood in her body rush quickly towards that zone. “Levi... Hey! Look at me! You know who I am!” 

“ Shut ya’ mouth hole, you trashy and disgusting excuse of a whore!” He slapped her across the face rather harshly, earning a hurt whimper from her. “ Right in your last moments alive ya’ decide to finally be impersonating a good mother to ya’ little girl? How patethic from such a patethic scum like you. Even me, a stubborn motherfucker, was clear minded enough to raise that little turd in front of ya’ ! “ He took a better fistful out of her hair so he can make her come a little closer to the two kids in front of her, now realising that she once again isn’t playing herself in this dream. It was indeed her mother’s last minutes alive before she was brutally assassinated. 

“ That’s right, ya pumpkin head! All those nights hoeing around just to be at the mercy of my blade in the end. How does it feel to be the worst mother in the world? Hell will look so good on ya’, sugar” Kenny laughed hard and vigorously, throwing his spit on the ground and at the same time letting go of the fistful of hair that he formed. 

“ Now kiddos, it’s your turn to make Papa Kenny proud. Show me what ya got!” He smiled diabolically and she could’ve swore that he grew some sharp and demonic teeth while doing it. In the mean time, the kids in front of her dropped their hands around their body, little Historia making a shocking gesture of pulling one knife from behind, now mirroring the same jesture as Levi, who pointed his knife to the “real Historia”. 

“No, please, I beg you... This is not how it’s supposed to happen. We didn’t even had the chance to talk about it first!” Tears were forming in her amber coloured eyes, feeling the fastness of death that creeped on her. 

“You are my pride and joy, midget. Don’t forget that.” Kenny took his hat off and symbollicaly rested it on Levi’s head, just as he and little Historia approached the victim closer and closer. Two angels of death doing their rightful mission of punishing the absence of a mother from her daughter’s life. Little Levi reached his hand towards the little girl so she can hold him by it, together marching in front of their destiny like two mechanical dolls.

“That day, why did you leave me?” 

“That day, why did you leave me?” 

“That day, why did you leave me?” 

“Being unfit to be a parent is not an excuse.” 

“Useless, useless child”

”I will never die” 

“I will never die” 

All those phrases rang in her ears from multiple directions, feeling as the room was getting more cramped and her ears we’re stinging violently from the screams of the angry children in front of her. 

“MAKE IT STOP!!!” She shouted heavily while a sharp blade cuts her across her eyes, one swiping coming just on the lenght of her neck, soon after this unpleasant incident in her vividly explicit dream she finally wakes up. As she opened her eyes with a scared for her life expression and a sweaty forehead and neck, she takes a big breath in her wish to calm herself as quickly as she can, looking around the room to make sure that she is indeed awake and not in another awful scenario played by her damaged mind. 

Historia looks back at Levi, who was still sleeping sound and unbothered by what happened around him, making her just sigh heavily as she sinks herself back in the comfortable couch, staring in a blank and tired way at the ceiling. 

“ I shouldn’t have combined rum and beer, indeed. Of course the loser gets the most depraved sleep.” She rolls her eyes as she contemplates about the next hours she will spend being awake, as well as being as far from a knife as possible. What was even the meaning behind all of this. And most importantly, who was Erwin? What did he had to do with Levi in the first place? 

It definetly looked like the scenery was placed in the middle of a battle, as Erwin was sitting down on a wooden box with Levi kneeling in front of him, like he was about to pledge his eternal loyalty towards him. More like his swing of the blade in that situation. 

“Shit, now the little bastard decided to collonize my dreams, too?” She furrows her brows in full blind rage, playing with a strand of hair as she was listening to the sound of the fireplace that was slowly starting to die down. Maybe bringing Levi a blanket wasn’t such a bad idea after all. 

Back at thinking about the significance of the dream. Erwin was wearing an identical green cloak as Levi did, so he indeed was a part of the Survey Corps. And he had around his neck this green bolo tie with a small image of the Wings of Freedom engraved deep inside it. What role did he play? He seemed like a man that was playing a role that demanded power, persuasion, commitment from the others towards him. She thinks he was some sort of commander figure, or an officer of some kind. 

As she was analyzing her theories in her own peace of mind, she didn’t pay attention when her handsome host woke up just half of the way, opening just one of his eyes so he can look straight ahead at her thoughtful face expression. 

“ ... What in the depths of hell hole are you contemplating about at this hour, woman?” He mumbled with a harsh and husky tone at her own “idiocy” as he would describe what she was doing, placing a palm on his face so he can rub his tired and irritated eyelids. “ Just go to bed.” He turns his back to her so he can hide himself from the light that was spread within his vision by the fireplace itself, still sounding like a grumpy old fellow in need of his hibernation. “ The fuck were you squeaking like a nervous dog for? Tch...” 

“I already slept for a few hours, I am more than the word ‘fresh’ could ever describe my state” She says plainly as she crossed her arms, giving him an offended look because she wasn’t tolerating his habits at this hour. 

“A couch is not a bed, empty mushroom head.” He said more loudly, but the sound of his voice was muffled by the material of the pillow the sofa was offering him. 

“ Neither a sofa, you musty bug.” She throws similar caressing words on his way, hiding her face again in the soft and cozy pillow she was hugging lazily. 


	6. Cellophane Visions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Song of the chapter: Her Life - Two Feet

Even though she told herself that the rest of this night wasn’t going to be reserved for hours of sound sleep, Historia soon fell back into a deep state of slumber, feeling relieved that once she closed her fluttery eyes she wasn’t greeted by another specific nightmare like those she experienced previously.  
The night crosses on the opposite side rather quickly and the morning breeze was slowly entering the slighty opened window of the main room, the chilly feeling leaving small goosebumps across the skin of her neck, making her shiver a little bit. It was almost seven a clock in the morning, and outside there were already people populating the roads, each of them walking on their way to their jobs or escorting their little kids to their school on schedule.  
Historia softly yawns and positioned her sleepy self on her back, with one arm held across her eyes, as if to block the pale sunlight from her vision as much as possible. She stretches her legs pleasantly, almost purring at the feeling of waking up in such a cozy place. She finally opened her eyes slightly to look around the room she was in, noticing that now she was laying on the sofa that Levi previously slept in, admitting that this new place she was occupying was more comfortable than the crowded armchair she wiggled her body in. She almost blushed at the thought of him carrying her to the place she was, being as gentle as he could so she could not wake up in the process.  
“ So we can sense some beatings of a heart in that man’s chest after all, can we?” She yawned once again, a bit more louder than the last time and she tries to pull herself up in a seating position, before finding herself closing her eyes once again and sleeping for another round of five hours. She scratches her scalp in circular motions, as her attention was caught by the warm and steamy mug that was placed in front of her, on the small coffee table. Good thing it was that there was not as much stinging alcohol smell oozing from the woody material of it. Now only the smell of fresh brewed earl grey with a kind tinge of vanilla was playing the main aroma that dominated her nostril and the air of the room. She guessed that he might have woken up some time ago before her, and because he didn’t want to get bored and seem like a bad breed of a host, he made some fresh tea for the both of them. But he wasn’t making any sound around here, not even a step or a sillouette in the doorframe to greet her with a good morning.  
“I guess he might have went outside to do some errands I guess. Silly man.” With all of her strenght that was still living within her body, she raised up on her feet, being careful to stretch her back and her sore from staying in one position arms. She rubs one of her eyes before marching towards the small hallway of the not so lavish and compact appartment.  
“ I am so in need of a shower and to brush the bush that is on the top of my head right now. Lord, i wonder where i left the hair tie the last time i used it.” She walked slowly towards the one of the two rooms that were placed on each side of the hallway, remembering from yesterday’s experience that the one on the left was the bathroom. She curled her fingers around the bronze toned door knob, taking her time when she was about to open the door that separated her from the fresh bath she yearned for.  
Once she opened the wood themed door and made the view of the room finally visible for her, she almost dropped her jaw and her self respect in a total different region than the one she found herself in. She wished she could get obliterated right here and right now with no mercy included, because if she remained alive in this moment, she couldn’t even get rid of the image that stained her mind right now for the rest of the next decade that will come.  
“Oh shit—!” She covered her eyes immediatly with one of her palms, trying hard not to blush like the maddest person alive right now, but Historia knew that she couldn’t stop what it felt like an overwhelming breeze of hotness that installed on her face and her ears.  
The forbidden sight that she just witnessed with both of her unprepared eyes was Levi itself, whose body was completely naked and soaking wet, laying relaxed and unbothered in the white and filled up bathtub, one of his pale and slightly traced with scars legs crossing over the edge of the tub. Droplets of water were falling down from the tip of his toe, while his head was rested calmly on the white bathroom tiles, his damp eyelids staying completely shut, even though a guest decided to join the savory scene Levi entertained in that moment.  
She slightly opened a gap between her ring and middle fingers so she can still look at the serene landscape in front of her. Her cheeks were overheated and burning against her milky palm, her shyness increasing when she could distinguish more clues in the picture in front of her. Plenty of water drops were lavishly travelling from his collarbone down to his ripped abdomen, looking forward to reach even more sinful regions. His lenght was situated above the level of the water, resting on the right side of his inner toned tight, looking rather inviting as it stayed just in plain sight shamelessly, just like it’s owner. She couldn’t stop thinking about how delicious he looked spread in that particular position, now a million scenarios invading her not so pure imagination. Even her own brain was working against her own force. Not to mention her raised body temperature. Her ears were about to whistle and steam similar to a kettle.  
Only after about three minutes into the busting in of his blonde companion, Levi finally decided to open his tired eyelids painfully slow, his eyebags greeting Historia along with the grey orbs that she knew she will find a weakness into.  
“Have you decided already how long are you going to stare at me before making you pass as a certified pervert?” He looks unbothered and neutral at the girl, not seeing the point of her paralyzed and ready to dig up a hole where she could hide figure.  
“ Oh my. You are looking a little bit red there. Should I check your temperature, as you are already there?” He smirks in a mischevious way, mimicking a movement of wanting to raise up from the filled bathtub, making his strong hands grip each side of it.  
She jumped up just like a scared stray kitten, taking another step back as he was profitting of her awkward self made position. “ N-NO! NO WAY!” She sighed heavily, almost like she was about to faint from the nervousness. “ Just stay right there and don’t dare to move an inch. I will literally lock you up all day if i have to.” She points her finger at him, almost to make it look more like an urgent threat.  
As he was watching his joyful and caught off guard friend babbling as many words as she could in a single minute, he started laughing rather loudly, savouring this morning chain of events. He clearly knew what he was doing, because he was using every shortcut possible to tease her without a break.  
“ Haven’t they tought you how to knock on other people’s doors at that little farm of yours? You payed the price for what was coming, Blondie.” His smirk was extending in an impossible way, slightly biting his lip as he straightened his back to place himself in a more decent sitting position, now the heart throbbing view of his south being out of question.  
She furrowed her brows even more, feeling as her redness that ruled her face was mixing with crumbs of anger that started to build.  
“Y-You little bi—“ She fixes the pitch of her voice with one short cough, fixing quickly her bed head that still needed a good brushing after the night. “ You forgot to scrub that dirty little smirk off of your face. You will defeat the purpose of taking a bath if you do that, jerk.” She slowly moved herself so she can get closer to him, placing her arms in a crossed position.  
Levi raised his beautifully shaped brow, almost taking on a brand new and innocent persona for this part of making fun of her. “ Oh, yeah? Is that so?” He runs his wet hand through his damp and slicked back hair, not budging even a second from staring right through her skull with those piercing greys he owned. “... Maybe there is a great pleasure in getting down and dirty attached to my own name. Do you have something against it?” He smiled as he was studying her ravaged facial expression, resting his sharp cheek in his palm. “You look like you need a nice and good wash of your dirty little mind. Take a seat. I have some space saved only and just for you, angel.” He pointed down to the room between his parted legs, blinking in the manner of a innocent and pretty boy with no intention of doing harm.  
She gulped carefully, almost to not get caught in the act by him, then she moved her sight and her face towards her left, closing her eyes. “ Unfortunately, i have to pass on that intrigueing invitation of yours. Save the place for someone who really fantasizes of this opportunity. I came here to take my hair tie back, if you don’t mind ruining your little prepubescent games.” She rolls her eyes and then she looks over the edge of the bathtub to find the black elastic piece resting here. Historia decides to bend over the pleasurably stretched figure of Levi, trying to reach for her only object of desire at this current moment. Once she got her hand on the troublemaking hair accessory that turned her morning in a small shit show, soon a dripping wet hand was placed on her back, slowly travelling towards the lower region of the lenght of her spine, caressing her now damp material of the shirt with gentle movements. Levi slowly reached as close as possible towards Historia’s ear, his hot breath sending shivers down all her sensitive nerves, the smell of mint grinding against her naked skin of the neck and the top part of her collarbone. “ I hope you finished the tea i left for you on the living room table. I added two teaspoons of sugar in it just for you. I don’t usually put two of them in anyone’s tea when it comes to it. But... “ He took his time while he was raising his calloused hand towards her face, slowly and deliciously putting one misbehaving blonde strand of her hair behind her ear, then he lowers his fingers so they can trace the line of the girl’s jaw. “ I wanted to match the swetness that i bet you have.” He whispers suggestively, every syllable that was said having a heavy impact on Historia’s mental health right now. She slowly parted from the temptatious devilman in front of her, sighing heavily.  
“A-Alrighty, I can’t do this today, bestie. I am out of here. Next time, put a sign on the damn door or you will bathe in the puddle outside.” She eyes him harshly and completely done with his behaviour, then she finds her way out of the bathroom and closes the door shut after her, pining her tensed back against it as she closed her eyes, wishing she could scream at the top of her lungs right in this moment. She couldn’t imagine how she will preserve her mental stamina in shape if she spends one more day with him in a shared house. It’s almost too much for her to stand. She slowly lets herself fall with her back against the door down, then she takes a towel and rests it on the doorknob, so that he can find it after he finishes with his bathing ritual.  
“ God fucking dammit, how am i supposed to function for the rest of the day when the image of his junior is staining my mind.” She slaps her forehead a few times before throwing herself back in the couch, taking with her as well the mug of tea that was still warm. Of course, it was still smelling like a delight ready to be cherished in mornings like this. But then she remembered how close he was to her face when he whispered to her the process of making the tea, almost sounding like a dirty offer if she didn’t payed attention to the meaning of the words.  
She hides herself more into the soft material of the couch, sipping slowly the aromatic bouquet of tea. It smelled and tasted like a very quality one, because she never had such a good tea before in her life.  
“And to think about it, I am indeed wrong for calling it a ‘junior’” She blushes even more as she remembered the picture clearly in her head, burrying herself even more with the intention to disappear and never be found. Historia had to come to the confession that she didn’t get to be intimate with a guy for a very long time, but that doesn’t give her permission to act like a little girl right now. Because this activity wasn’t one in the bucketlist for her. Or maybe it was. But just a tiny bit. Just as a souvenir.

No. Not at all. She had to get rid of all that fantasizing behaviour she just started based only on a small accident that shouldn’t had happened if she was more cautious and remembered about existence of well manners in this hour of the morning. She just placed the mug filled with the sweet drink back on the table, making sure to put her mind to work in other helpful areas of your life. Like for example to get a job as soon as possible in this part of the city. As much as crashing at Levi’s house and spending most of the time here doing nothing in return sounded like both a bliss and a new inaugurated parasitic relationship, the latter describing definition was more true to the situation. She had to sustain herself financially as she did since she was thirteen, and not even a new man introduced in her life and eager to let her stay with him even just after meeting her yesterday couldn’t barge in and change her mind about this principle she lived by. Historia didn’t need to feel more like a burden than she already did, even though she always takes an ocassion to have that feeling inside of her even though is not true. 

“Hmm... I will ask Levi about the possible jobs I can get around this side of town. And then I will just get hired and slowly but surely things will get back to normal again, right? It will all be like I never actually ran from home and I was born and raised here. I will not even need Levi’s help with having a roof over my head, I will hoard just enough money to buy myself a cute and cozy place. That way I will not bump into the audacity of men every next hour of my existence” She smiled widely and extremely satisfied by her entrepreneur visions she was hyperfixating on, already seeing herself in her dream house she hallucinated. With a candid smile she jumped on her feet like a jolly kid, laughing maniacally as she was freshly getting a new crave of turning her life over at 180 degrees at nine am in the morning. She decides to kill the time waiting for the bathroom to be emptied by a particular mind occupying person, turning her heels around towards the hallway just to inspect the place more better than she did in her first day of arrival. If she was meant live here along with him for this next period, she needed to know this place just like the back of her hand, right? 

Historia slowly traced her small fingertips on the fresh surface of the wall on her right, inspecting the gorgeous paintings that were hanged on the tall walls, looking like they were some windows leading towards virgin and unroamed realms. 

As she was walking carefully on the crisp and wooden flooring, she suddenly felt like one of the wood blocks were rather loose, like a space between the other ones was created and the friction was audible. 

She curiously squatted in front of the wood chunk, deciding if it would be a good or a rather bad idea if she plugged it out of it’s place to investigate the mystery behind it.

“I mean... It won’t hurt to take a look or two at it. I can always place it right back like it always has been.” She mischeviouslylooked down at the new adventurous activity, a glow tracing her ocean-like orbs. Immediatly, she dug her fingers inside the empty space between the parquetry, with a few swift pushes finally succeeding in popping out the peculiar piece of wood. “Sheesh, what is this supposed to resemble? A hiding place for the annoying bathing dwarf?” She was catiously touching the edges of the gap, realizing that a navy blue material was covering the rest of the depth that was inside. She made her mind and placed the dark material between her fingers, gently rubbing her thumb on it’s velvety surface.

“Hmm... It doesn’t look like a treasurable think worth hiding in the flooring. Then, what is the catch about it?” She was raising many questions regarding the object in front of her, out of a sudden the corner of her eye was getting distracted by a shiny object that reflected from the same spot she took the velvet piece from. Historia turns her gaze back at the odd and irregular hole, now her answers that she asked for showing their real face to her. 

“ ... A key?” She asked herself as she took the bronze tinted key in her hands, studying every curve and line that it showcasted. The girl could tell that this was definetly not a back-up key for the main key of the appartement, because they we’re completely two different designs. And it wasn’t worth the effort to make a hidden space between wooden tiles just for a double. Then, for what was this key meant to fit inside of? 


	7. With Love: K. & L., 822.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Song of the chapter: Black Beauty - Lana Del Rey

She rose back on her two feet while keeping her composure and her eyes on the recently found object, as if she was out for treasure hunting and finally rested her gaze on a chest filled with precious belongings not meant for her reach. 

She looks around to check if Levi had exited the bathroom, but to her relief the handsome man wasn’t around to witness her unpolite searching. Now the only thing that missed was the keylock that was designed for this particular model. She suddenly remembered about the existence of another room in front of her, that was casted by a slight shadow, as it was a threat towards the fellows who dared to step on forbidden property.She walks slowly, almost tip toeing on the floor so she will not get another squeaky wood parquetry underneath her step, at last arriving in front of the shiver sending door. 

Without hesitating, she puts the key in the hole so she can test if this is the right one, to her surprise an opening click ringing in her ears, as a sign that her senses were right about her judgement. With swift and silent movements, she pushes the doorknob downwards, another room of this house opening at her own command. She was pleased by her little hunting game, almost forgetting that a particular person probably will not be as pleased by her action. But it didn’t matter, because her thirst for knowledge was the main character on the stage. She enters the dark and rather chilly room, the temperature decreasing significantly as she exited from the hallway. It was all blank and she couldn’t distinguish what was around her at all. Lucky for her, the lighter in her pocket was a very warm and welcomed help in this situation. Historia took it out and flipped the little metallic wheel of the lighter, now a slight halo guiding her around the mysterious room. She could distinguish a large and oak office desk that was the main furniture in this room, behind it was placed a black leather chair that was covered in a slight pellicle of dust to her surprise. Levi wouldn’t let the smallest fluff to touch his personal belongings, so what was this different behaviour towards this room? It felt like he almost wanted to forget about it’s existence somehow, almost wanting the cream coloured walls outside swallow this entire room and never show it again. On the professional and tidy desk layed a stack of paperwork and a sharp fountain pen, a slight messy and cursive writing layed all over the papers like a mark. On the left side of the desk’s surface was carefully placed a framed picture of a extremelly beautiful woman, whose hair was grown past her chest, the raven coloured bangs hugging her noble features in such a complimenting way. Historia was drawn by the eyes of the middle aged woman in that picture. They were the identical piercing and poetic grey that she was introduced to this week. A soft kiss of a beauty mark placed beneath her right eye and a charming smile that made her look younger than her years wanted to reflect. She was a natural gourgeousness and she knew that the woman in the picture stole a lot of hearts at her life, maybe even doing it right now. In her arms she was cuddling what seemed like a small child, a little boy with the same raven toned hair and an adorable execution of an undercut. He was hiding his face from the camera that wanted to capture this beautiful and motherly moment, but still in that angle you could take a sneek peek at the chubby cheek that was worth a good pinch. In the corner of the framed work of art she could distinguish a set of letters that seemed like some sort of an abbreviation of the former names. 

“... K. and L. Hmm..” She traced her finger slowly over the two letters written in black ink, below them was shown the year when this picture was taken, which was 822. Historia could distinguish one of the letters as one name, the L. being meant for Levi itself, but K.? What was her actual name, she was wondering. She was way too deep into her exploratory state to just stop now. Or maybe she actually needed a cleansing with cold water right now. Because without her noticing right away, a slightly taller than her figure towered over the natural light that was penetrating from the hallway, one hand holding a towel over his head to dry out the previously wet hair follicles. 

“ I see you already found a new activity to entertain yourself. Pleased by what you discovered?” He raised his brow questionably at her, being somehow impressed at Historia’s skill of minding everything but her own goddamn bussines. 

She felt like a naughty little brat browsing through a hidden cookie jar when she got caught just like that in her little non-harming adventure. She carefully placed the frame back where she took it on the wooden surface next to her, turning around so she can reveal her shameful face towards him. “ More than the words in this language can ever describe the high I am on now.I love puzzles with all my heart. Especially when they are life-sized.And a boss battle comes right after . “ She smiles innocently at him, just as she wasn’t actually a mole that was estranged from the notion of private belongings. 

The air beneath Levi’s nostril just puffed slowly, almost feeling amused by the balls the girl in front of him was hanging in front of him. 

“Make sure not to trip on those big balls of yours, Historia. As cocky as you can be, there is a slight limit to where my nice guy acting suddenly stops.”He reached closer towards her, his only clothing attire now was just a pair of black pants and some socks, his craftfully sculpted abdomen making once again an appearence in front of the girl. “ And a good girl like you wouldn’t want to see what is on the other side of my fence.” He rests one hand rather loudly on the surface of the desk, minding the sheen of dust that was marked by his fingerprints.

Historia just dusted her shirt gently, keeping her steadyness and her eyes on Levi, as if trying to defy his threat stained words that he spoke to her like reciting a poetry scrabble. Again, she also could distingusih a very big thrill when her name was spelled in such a vexed matter, even daring to associate her with a “good girl”. How inviting. 

“I wasn’t going to leave without telling you about what i did. Don’t take me for an idiot.” 

Levi marched ahead until he stopped in front of her, a stern look staying glued to his features, feeling rather challenged by her defensive attitude. “ Then when were you going to tell me? When i finally notice you had a stupid idea and come to see it for myself?” He sighs and rests the damp towel in his hand, staring down at the paperwork that was stacked the same as it was a long time ago, reminiscent of some deleted and thorn apart memories of him. It almost made the knot inside his organs tighten uncomfortably. 

“You might want to take a seat for the next story I have to tell you, you know?” 


	8. Salt in the wound

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Song of the chapter: The Neighbourhood - Baby Came Home 2/Valentines

Levi kept his serious gaze upon the captivated girl that stayed still in front of him, almost like a sign for him to start as earlier as he could with the beginning of the tale that he once made a part of not a long ago, but still feeling like he wasn’t actually a part of all the action that happened behind his eyes, just a witnesser to his own personal hell unveiling as a dressed nightmare.  
Historia just nods in understanding and she lowers her body on the black leather covered chair behind her, slowly making sure to cross one leg on top of the other one, taking one deep breath before spoiling the tar-like silence that was poured all over them. “I’m sitting. Now it’s turn for me to be listening and to you to be speaking.” She speaks in a slight raspy manner, as one of her hands rested on the feather-pen that was placed on the desk, playing with the soft ends of it.  
Levi closed his eyes after he looked up at the picture on the wall in front of him, where a textile illustration of the Wings of Freedom was framed and caged in the glass pellicle, that shade of blue that stained one of the two wings being more aquantainced to him than ever in that moment.  
“It was one month after I left the Underground City for good, leaving behind all the disturbing and naseous things that i lived too close by since i identified mysef as a young one. A group of people that at first seemed to appear like a flock of shit faced military guards captured me and my friends moments before we were about to escape the hellhole itself. I still remember how hard that bloody infectious hound Miche made my face kiss with a puddle of dirt situated right at my feet. Tch. He was one of the best ones in his squad.” He seemed like he was deep rooted in his memories right now, trying to distinguish every detail of his encouter with the mysterious “military guards” that weren’t so transparent about their title and their raw power. Especially when they had a mad man like Erwin Smith leading the way towards many comarades deaths.  
“ It was that day when I was introduced to two shitty eyes and another distant pair of this time four shitty eyes. That’s right, there were way too many eyes involved in this discution, and I was absolutely not one to budge from his spot to eye the situation properly.” He eventually takes a sit on the wooden desk placed in front of Historia, letting his feet slowly drift in a backwards to forward movement. “ Erwin Smith was the name of the blonde and humongous bitch that was the leader of the other sons of bitches Survey Corps asshats Inc. .” He looks down to her accustomed to her seat body, checking if her interest in his story was still intact.  
“ And who could’ve have thought that this random man could save me in any way a person can be saved. He won the trial with the government so the three of us could legally leave the piss stained grave that the Underground City represented. To be fully honest, I only did it for the sake of Isabell, because i pleged with every single beating of my bastard heart that she will have the normal life she truly deserved. Not some gregarious with thugs and irreparable diseases place. She was worth more than that in my eyes.” A different taste of pain was now oozing from his blank and shaking eyelids, Historia immediatly picking up with the bitter taste of what it meant to not keep your promise to the end to someone. “ I made a deal with the true Earth Devil at that time so both Isabel and Farlan can live happily and thriving in the next years that would come. I didn’t care if i even had to suck someone’s dirt off of his boot, i was eager to rip a piece out of myself for them if needed. That’s how we did it in the Underground with our real family members beyond the blood line. But the major thing was... We weren’t the kids birthed from the damned soil of the Underground anymore. We were now playing by another set of rules and other choices to still make. We got registered into the military training camp of the Survey Corps, the first move we learnt was the infamous salute of those predestined to a painful end bastards. After just three months here, I was already considered the shit, graduading the top of the class and soon being at my own ceremony of being officialy crowned as the Captain with his own faithful squad at his side.” His eyebags were not doing any justice to his facial features right now, because he looked like he was getting tired just by repeating the story to another person in his life now, replaying all his Captain Arc of the story in his own head every night not being the enough amount anyway.  
“Now you will be soon wondering ‘What was the real deal that I got from this gig i made with the great Commander of the Survey Corps that day? Will it save me from my sins completely and let me sleep at least once in an orthodox way?’. No need to wonder that answer to my question all just by yourself, because I am coming to the rescue as I always do: Nothing. It brought me nothing. It killed them. It killed my last persons on this snake skinned Earth that I ever cared about truly and fully. It made me look like the biggest imbecile this cadet quarters I roamed ever feared like a bunch of stank pussies. I never thought I will ever get out of that machiavellic hell Erwin ruled like some sort of pimp. Until the military police sued all this entire branch of corps and made the shutdown plan work in just about three days. I was the only lucky bastard that dodged the sentence in jail that was available for all the higher-ups in Survey Corps, now hiding myself after the raid right under the military shit stains’ noses. I bet that fucker Nile Dok is living with the idea that I just died overdosing on opium injected with cheap and rusty needles in some sewer in the Underground. But yours trully is still alive and well, being a mole together with other bat shit crazy survivors from the “Survey Corpse” criminal case that threw the capital in full blown fervour. “ Levi rests the towel on one of his clothed tights, slowly parting his hair with the help of his fingers. “ The cops made their wet dream come to reality because the famous sadistic fuck face named Darius Zackly was already getting tired of saving the rest of the government funds for sponsoring the Survey Corps and their attempts to modernize their gear and their scientific research that could’ve actually helped in eradicating if not the most, at least just a part of the existent titans around the wall. Expanded territory, new human designed weaponry, all thrown in the garbage can just because he fantasized about buying more torture devices to use in the benefit of the hardening of his short dick. Tch. Still sending shivers down my spine when i think about that entitled hobo.” He rolls his eyes and takes a short break from his trip down the memory lane, checking the reactions that caught the girl’s intial chill expression.  
Historia just slowly moved her mobile leather chair from the right to the left, a contemplative look being distinguished in her irises . “ So apparently all the plan with the ascension towards modernizing the society that we live in was all trashed because of the attention you all started to get and the grudge of the unciorn slugs that can’t even have their eyes on a kid’s safety without committing some tax fraud.” She brushed her hair so it could flow on her back, the collar of her slightly opened shirt slowly bending towards her shoulder.  
“That’s exactly the description to resume and end this story with, chica. That’s the spot. And making the right calculations in this situation, this is my former cave where i was spending most of my nights as a slave of the government and a pawn in Erwin’s mentally derranged chess game.” He slowly moves his head from left to right, trying to detense his toned neck with the swift moves he was doing, while he was silently watching his bittersweet companion looking up through the dusty drawers that the desk presented, in one of them even finding a bolo tie with an emerald green tinted stone in the middle, the Wings of Freedom symbol being shown in a blurry way inside of it. On a matter of seconds she recognizes the mysterious and reminescent of a particular dream object that layed motionelessly in her hands, seeing the resemblence with the one tie that Erwin wore in one of her psychic experiences she got overnight. But she decided to not mention this fact in front of Levi right at this moment, because she knew that he would not only see her as a bat shit crazy witch that came to haunt him, but he will also think she was extremely suspicious and worth interrogating in a violent way. She decided to let this matter waste away in the course of the next moments and chooses to play dumb for the rest of his story dedicated hour, placing the enlarged bolo tie gingerly on the top of her head, almost to mimick a head crown just like in a childish pretending game. “ I think this cute necklace would’ve had looked pretty rad on me if I was one of your faithful cadets. That way the military police wouldn’t even dare to place a finger of me at the sight of this arousing outfit.” She laughs as she played with the brown and long neck of the bolo tie that circled her head crown, raising the endings up so she can pretend that she has a set of two antennas growing out of her temples, almost like a doodled ant.  
As Levi was watching the little silly play Historia started with the intiention of a optimist eager to lighten up and cheer the doomy atmosphere, without a warning he decided to bend himself ahead towards the childish brat in front of him, creating another opportunity in which Historia was way too close to his already observed attentively body, now the next thing she shared one thin strand of air with was his face, his chin being placed at only a few centimeters from her nose. “ Oi. That’s not the right way to wear the thing. And it’s a bolo tie, not a damn flower crown designed for fairies.” He furrows his brow in another attempt to create a new personality for the swollen wrinkle that was resting between his thin brows. “ I’ll help with it before you do something even more worth of pitying thing and find yourself ruining it.” He slided the brown and thin material that towered over her forehead even more down so it can reach her neck, slowly picking between each of his fingers her collar edges, glueing them on her collarbones before fixing the position of the tie inside of the hill formed by the collar and the rest of the shirt. He slowly takes the green and peeled stone between his fingers, with a swift and a quick movement, he stretched the material of the tie more closely to her neck, the single sound of the leather being scratched by the silver hole of the ornament making her whiper and startle in his hands for a bit, almost making her choke with her neck movement. “ This is how you put it.” He looks neutrally and in his usual bored mannner towers the flush face of the stunning beauty breathing so closely and cutely near him, almost devouring the aroma of the breath he dared to breath. A new source of oxigen to cleanse his rashed mind. “And if you keep on behaving like a disrespectful brat once more... And entering rooms you are too weak to stay inside of..” Without leaving the innocent and thrilled gaze Historia was guilt-riddenly giving him, he made his hand travel from the region of her neck sickenly slow towards her arm, caressing it enchantingly before grabbing both of her wrist inside his large and rough textured hand, then with the loyal help of his only one hand, he succeedes in taking the tie off of her neck, then swiftly placing the circled material around her wrists and tightening uncomfortably the space around them, raising her arms around her head as he was towering dominantly over her luscious and aroused body, her only action left being to be succumbed under his suggestive spell while she got pinned roughly against the wall behind her. “I will be compelled to do nothing else but punishing you” He speaks towards her lips with a breathy and husky voice, the devil inside of him staring back at the object of his attention, sucking on the honeyed gaze she was pampering him with. She was so close to his flush and clean smelling muscular body, their faces following the same movement as their distance was less than an inch from devouring each others lips. They were just getting high by breathing each others air shamelessly, as Historia was already eating him up just by using her eyes.  
“... Then i should be barging in every corner of the house like i did now way more often. I like being tied up and helpless under a disperate and frustrated masculine figure. “ She left her eyelids to rest on half of the size of her eye, now making her lips almost touch the skin of his earlobe with her movement.  
“ I can only feel you hardening in a mad way just by staying here.” She whispers in a sultry and carnal way in his ear, almost waking something inside of him that would not leave until he got his claws on it’s desired prey.


	9. Écoute Chérie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The song of the chapter: Innocent - Teenage Priest

As sweetened up words of a particular godess-reminiscent girl that layed so playfully and consensual under his chiselled and heated torso, his mood was only getting more and more challenged, as he was already getting used to the pristine feeling of Historia’s body heat radiating like a sun towards his goose bump roamed naked chest. A smirk was taking it’s time in rising in the corner of his pale and inviting lips, registering every phrase she tells him pleasantly into his counsciousness like a new prayer he learnt on the spot. Levi just keeps on tightening the grip around her pale and thin wrists, almost making her release a throaty and stimulating whimper only just for him. And only him. This was the thing that made him feel charged with the feeling of actually being alive and breathing. Having the full control over the situation in which a stunning and mind dirtying girl like her was playing the second role. He couldn’t even pin point what was so effervescent about her body that made him tangle up in his little scenarios that included more than just small and retracted whipers. They were loud. Massive. Lascive and attention seeking, a battle between two beasts feasting over each other like there is no tomorrow nor yesterday. Just the now moment. The only moment that Levi wished he knew at all. Not some memories that were belonging to a harmless kid that no longer occupied the empty place in his soul eating body. 

Drowning in her sugary rose smell was the only thing that he wished he was made of as a sentient being. Living under her soft and velvety skin like the parasite he was compared to her full of grace and flowery persona. How he wished he ripped her apart and made everything he wished to her pure and unstained figure, just like the Earth Devilman he was predestined to embody in full color. 

“ Tch.. Even now you are not budging even once from the situation that you caught yourself in like a headless bug. Do you always aim with the center of your head towards things that happen to you?” He almost whispers in a hypnotic way, his rough textured fingertips now travelling shamelessly from the milky skin of her neck towards underneath her chin, raising her face up so she can face him like the mindless self declared that she could do. 

Historia just keeps on staring right back into his flaming pupils, her blue hued irises almost making 2 brand new holes inside his head with the intensity they got. Lightning in the dark in the way they did made this torture so sweet to him, he couldn’t bring himsef to explain it entirely. 

Then, without a warning needed to spoil this spontaneous moment they both savoured like the sense-driven persons they were, she slowly raised one of her feet in the air, carefully placing her socked footprint on the surface of his chest, playfully pushing him backwards just a bit, without ruining her stance. “ Mhhm.. Correct me if i’m reading the room in a wrong way, but... I’m very sure that the two of us are referring to two different kinds of heads in this moment.” She devishly showed her perfect whites with a smile worth being worn by a villain, her foot slowly misplacing from his chest fowards his side of the body, reaching downwards to his hip, brushing his body lazily as she was taking time with every inch she was touching. “ But you were only speaking truth to be honest. I like to have a taste of something my eye catches as soon as possible. As hot as that dish may be.” Her leg locks gently around his waist, her demure eyes challenging him constantly as she was keeping her precious play of the “innocent girl”, that wasn’t having any idea what she was really doing. 

The gesture she made around a region so sensitive as that only made Levi go feral on the inside, but he just bites his lip harshly as he was straightforwardly staring at her round and rosy lips, almost teasing his own persona with his no-touch rule that he implemented without thinking about the consequence. And the consequence was growing more and more visible as the light peeked in the office room from the distant placed hallway. 

“Aren’t you such a tease on the outside as you are on the inside. You almost make me chuckle, country girl.” He raised his fingers once again so he can reach with his one free hand towards her hair, intimately locking his digits with her honeyed highlights, trying to succumb to his voice of reasoning that told him to not dare to pull her hair. Not now, at least. Since when he began to be so infatuated with the brand new girl that he was describing just as the embodiment of a cliche that was getting overromanticised and overpraised, anyway? That question was barging on the door of his brain, but he was way too distracted with the way her soft leg was raising so dangerously high that he could peek just slightly the color of her panties. 

“Now, I’m going to ask you the same question that I adressed to you on the first day I was here. Shall I help with making the situation easier for the both of us right now?” She voluptiously whispered against his slightly parted lips, making him shiver once again as he felt her leg hooking him around her even more, finding the part of keeping his composure and not being a bland and average man driven by his sexual needs incredibly impossible. He was so close to getting what he was gambling for, just a taste of the in-your-face beauty she was throwing towards him, together with the other reasons she was being such a miraculous thing. Her reckless and bratty behaviour wasn’t problematic anymore, Levi even considering it arousing, like and invitation to dig into her breath-taking decoltage, or locking between her heavenly legs. No matter the consequence. 

“T-Tch... “ He instantly decided fo furrow his sharp brow towards her similar to a death wish words she was choosing to tell him, his hand finally retracting from doing something sinful and regretful that he had in mind. Well, not like he was the only arousal instigating person in here, that played by the same cards and the same rule. “ Do not try to make a statement that you will not find yourself fullfiling, good little girl. That would be a disappointment not only to the two of our family names.” Levi spends only a few seconds next to her sweet and aromatic natural scent, before breaking apar from their emotional affair that both shared without bad feelings intruding. He takes the towel once again between his fingers, replacing her soft and addicting hair strands for the textile material, placing it on his head so he can continue his drying trial that he started before entering the room in question. 

He places a hand in one of his pockets, now his playful and sin seeking facial expression being replaced by a serious and stern persona that looked totally like a separate entity from what Historia saw before. Even she was caught by surprise at his change of mannerism, because she already knew that this exact moment they shared will need to be watered down in the future, when she will be all alone with her dirty thoughts in her room. 

“ From now on you will be asking me personally if you want to visit some place or thing inside the region of the house. Understand?” He looks her up and down before she brushed her skirt in it’s former placement and raised herself from the comfortable leather chair, a fugitive sheen of blush still wandering over her glowy cheeks, still not torn apart from the moment she and Levi shared just a few minutes ago like it was their own sort of greeting each other. “ Not a single one of your sickly curious fingers on places I don’t allow. You already made a destructive mess by just breathing and walking around the room.” He then raises his hand in front of him so he can make a gesture with his pointed towards himself fingers, suggesting her that it was now the time to hand back the keys that she used to enter just as easily as she found them. 

At first she tried to brush it off gingerly, keeping both of her hands at the back of her body, blinking a few times as she was asking to repeat his question again. “ Sorry, I guess I kind of have this type of effect on places and things tgat definetly don’t belong under my name. They just keep popping in from of me...” She departs herself from the area of the desk, keeping her stance as she was walking towards him. “ And ask me to be opened as quickly as possible. Or that might be just one of the voices in my head. Sorry.” She smirks as she hangs the key between her fingers, starting to play with it as she was letting it move from one side to another. 

Levi quickly took the single key tied by a small rope from her hand, making sure to put it into a safe space and that being his pocket on the left of his pants. 

“ Good of you. Now. You better find another set of activities to entertain yourself and your narrow brain with just about enough so you could leave my ass alone. Like for example working at a job. You should know as a reminder that my pension as a military veteran is not going to keep our bellies filled for too long.”He is crossing both of his arms as the furrow of his brows was getting adjusted once again to his original persona, now his scar that was kissing his skin in the form of a line cutting from his splitted brow towards his bottom lip looking even more mysterious and vivid in the light he was staying. 

She just gives him a long and displeased eye roll when he assumed that she was just going to play as a decoration plant inside this house. “Umm, if you will excuse me, I was about to contribute to this discution earlier with the matter in question. I’m not the pillow princess you invision me to be, sadly. Shall I shed a tear real quick as I am still here?” She sarcastically pronounced the last phrase in a tone that mimics Levi’s voice, then she decides to pass him so she can go towards the door and leave at once the tight and crowded tension that still lingered inside the room. 

“And riddle me this: How are you mentioned as a veteran officialy when you are just about 20 or something. Am I missing something?” She raises her brow at him, almost to make sure is received as a offending way, resting one of her shoulders against the doorframe, now the shadow that was casted inside the room taking the shape of her well gifted body. 

Levi just chuckles softly at the interogatory tone Historia decided to pull out of the blue towards him, being more than pleased to explain himself to her. “ Let’s just say that the skills that I showed as a Captain and while protecting the entire humanity from the sweet release of death were pretty based, making the old farts decide that I somehow might be one of them if I am that good. I would call that just dementia and pretty poor vision.” He sighs softly as he throws the damp towel over his shoulder, dragging himself as well towards the door so he can exit and dry his long washed hair in a proper way. 

Historia just chuckles at the little explanation that he gave her, moving herself from the door frame so that both of them could exit without hoarding by just being two persons standing nearby that place. 

“I guess you nailed it fantastically when it comes to the second option. But I won’t deny that you were probably amazing on the battle zone.” She looks up at him while he was closing the door by holding the doorknob, then turning back to face her. 

“And I won’t even try to deny that you are maybe not a pillow princess, but for sure a spoiled and derealized princess. I can bet all my old army grandpa money on that.” He grins at her while picking the key so he can lock the room back again and let it be unseen by the rest of eyes that might want to barge in just as badly as the girl in front of him wanted to. 

Historia just scoffs at the sight of it, placing one of her hands on her hip. “ Already closing it so soon? She was actually getting real air inside of it at least for once. Just give her a break, will you?” She teases him as her schedule does, starting to walk towards the main room without paying attention to him. 

“Opening up so easily and even more easily than myself is only a motive for me to worry about it, brat.” The satisfying click that ensured that the place was closed for good finally tickled their ears, Levi turning around so he can catch up with his comrade. 


	10. Partir, venir, mourir, courir

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Song of the chapter: I Wouldn’t Ask You - Clairo

As she reached once again the safer from heated incidents main room of the apartment, she just raised her hands horizontally when she aproached the long and still perfumed with the sweet hours of sleeping before the appearance of the morning couch, letting herself fall on her back with swift movements, now her hair being sprayed all around her head like a beaming with light halo, giving her another reason on her list to be associated with a godly creature that fell from the highest point of Athens. She turns gingerly her head towards him, watching as the pale sunlight that cheekily tried to slide within the curtains that were partially closed over the window was shadowing Levi’s body in such a divine form, enhancing the curves of his biceps that were showcasted when he was raising his hand and moving it back and forth against his scalp, trying to tame the rebellious and damp hair follicles that now weren’t placed in that perfect middle part he was marching proudly with. It was such a candid image to be savouring at the starting point of this day, some demigod performing as humane as possible actions as drying his messy hair after a sleepy eyelid opening cold shower, because he was looking like the sort of guy who liked taking cold showers in the morning like some sort of mad maniac. 

She just softly gazed at the droplets of water that still lingered on his broad shoulders, wondering how could someone make her so envious and be simultaniousley the opposite gender of hers. His slightly parted lips and scrunched nose at the feel of a tangled hair piece made him look so innocent and sound, his profile revealing the fact that he was staring at the clock on the wall in front of him. Some rays were starting to rise from his behind, making Historia almost gasp at the beauty of this natural event that she caught just like a hunter watching sparingly a deer laying in the spot that the trees didn’t dare to cast a shadow upon, being afraid that they would cover the beauty of the creature between them. When he finally turns his head in a monotone and sly manner, she quickly turns her gaze from the object of her attention towards the ceiling, tapping her feet gingerly as they were pressed ankle over another. Levi just puffs almost unrecognizable and smiles slighty at the quick and nearly perfect time he got to catch her off guard, sensing her intense stare for longer than he wanted to admit. 

“ I think that the best course of action for me at this moment is to try to fill my application for the bar in which we beered and dined like an old married couple the previous evening. I really liked the atmosphere here, and there is always loud and fun music blasting from the entrance, isn’t that just the perfect way to keep you away from me for half a day?” She asks as she was raising one leg in the air and slowly letting it fall down just to do the same scheme with the other one, pursing her lips like a spoiled thing she was. 

He huffs at the last motive she chose to pick the too lively even for the alive ones bar they barged in yesterday, letting his towel rest on one of his knees. 

“You look like one of those spoiled brats that get bored the second they don’t run around like they have been aggresively drugged and if they don’t get things sticky with the slimy fingers they got.” He throws his original stingy glare at her because he lives by treating her attitude like that, then continuing again with his pampering ritual so he can get ready to dress completely without wetting his shirt. “ It is not entirely a bad idea. Only if you can spend an actual full assed day of trying to not get sexual assaulted and tolerating even the most ravenous pick-up lines you will ever hear. Especially from the slimy and disgusting ones staying in the corner of the room.” He eyes her warningly, already starting to bring negative points to her ideas as if they were of any help. 

She just laughs off what he said to her, pausing abruptly just to pull one of his stern faces right on her own, just to mock him earlier than she thought she will. “ Well, there is nothing a bit of steel will and short pants under a skirt cannot solve this cursed riddle you just planted in my brain. And just start behaving entrepreneurially already: the more perverted creeps populating the vastness of that room, the more tips I will start collecting and actually filling an entire pillow with. And not just a small thingy, one of those big pillows that a Titan would use to sleep.” She laughs victoriously as she was way too amazed by her little scrabble in her mind that was made of random ideas, once again detaching from the reality anchored core that Levi tried to implement on her so she can tone down a bit. 

He just shrugs his shoulders and furrows his brows in premium disgust, letting out even a sound to match his not entertained emotion. “ Good God aren’t you a brightly stupid type of subject to hear at 10 in the morning. Maybe the difference between of us is only of 6 years apart, but still. You make me look like a smug middle aged man that can’t tame the living shit out of some 9 year old overdosing on pure human brutality and energy.” He scoffs as he almost finishes the deal with his freshly washed hairstyle, the only thing missing being the hairbrush that he takes from the small table next to him, starting to brush his hair on his back multiple times so he can steadily form a wavy look at the roots. 

She hugs tightly one of the pillows that was previously rested next to her calf, the strap of her white undershirt falling from the shoulder down to her arm. “ Maybe all that impression is all made by your boring and stale mind that you decide it’s a good idea to listen to. Look at me. See what other difference is between rogue you and jolly me? The aging process.” She says that with a dramatic voice, suddenly rising on her seating position with one arm in front if her, almost making Levi startle if he wasn’t so done with whatever she wanted to parasitize his logical nature with. “ It’s the aging process. You, my sweet and dearest of all my friends, you are aging backwards, literally. The point of your twenties is to have the most fun you can possibly borrow before the worst of the years will actually catch up with you and give you cursed bodily pains. And for a girl like me, sir..” She jumps once again from her still position and lands on her feet like a cunning cat, walking towards him so she can throw her hands over his shoulders, but he quickly blocks her hands with a disgusted by human contact face. “ The most fun a girl like me can ever get right now is to feel good and content in her body and be around fun people that overpopulate even funnier places.” She smirks at him as she was forcing her hand strenght against his, trying to defy him and let him be embraced by the wave of clinginess she felt like giving. 

He raises his gaze so he can look at her warningly, before hooking her hands tightly in his grip, raising her wrists up only for the sake of showing that there is no point in challenging him in the category of raw bodily power. “ And not forgetting to mention the pleasure of using your body in decieving and giving hope to sweaty old hunchbacks for your own fun. What’s this need of keeping your status of fun so upbeat? Not judging, probably I would’ve done the same as you If I ever got the chance to use my feminine charm. How can you still be so arrogant and glib after everything you just precisely thought about?” Levi tightens the grip around her and pulls her just a little bit more closer so that he can really match her need for fun that she was so vocal about just a few moments ago. Now what was that silence that was brought in the front of the room like an elephant? 

Historia raises one of her brows as she was staring him down with a visible pissed off state, tilting her head slightly towards the right in a defying procedure. 

“ And how could you be so brave and so stupid to call a girl like me arrogant and glib?” She stares at him questioningly, her smirk growing more and more as she was getting into the little duel of smart remarksthey were entertaing too comfortably. She even moves her face more closer to his, as if she accepted his call out for a intense discussion. 

Levi just screeches his teeth, almost wanting to turn the debate they had right now in a physical thing, because with no doubt he would not have any miscalculations intruding on his way to being right.“ If I actually wanted to be the thing you so call as ‘fun’,then I would be without problems.” He eyes her deeply and in an intimidating way, being rather impressed right on the spot by the guts of the short tempered and sized girl in front of him that wasn’t budging even a bit from hisvisual field altercation. She just smiles even more as she was getting amused. “ Yeah, damn right you would be.”

Suddenly, he pulls her wrists down and lets go of them so she can unballance from her place, earning him her hands that just landed on his shoulders just for the sake of staying in a straight place. “ But unfortunately, I’m not.” He tells his words with the help of his breathy voice,winning his turn to smirk at the displeased face she was presenting him. “ Maybe yet.” She vocalised the last word as she gently squeezed pleasantly the middle part away from the shoulders, creating a nice detensing massage even if it lasted just about 5 seconds in total. “ Even you can be fun and silly if you want to be. Want to see it in person? Then come with me and keep me company as I sign my contract with the bar owner and you fantasize about the free beers I’d give you when the bartender is not around to witness unreligious behaviours. If not, then good luck at staying stuck in the house like a crisis affected dad. I am not going to come for picking up the pieces, I’ll be too busy making the clientele look like an army of people.” She flattens her palms as she raises them from the place of his naked and soft shoulders that she got way too comfortable with she realized, taking a step back just to look at him while placing her own hands behind her back. “So what do you say?” She grins at him like the sly kind she was really created of, being curious on how long until Levi would not stand her presence anymore with every inch of his being and find a way to send her on the opposite place on Earth from here. 

He just looks away as he raises on his feet grumpily, sighing just like the man crossed by his age that he described himself as, then he takes the white shirt that was laying on the surface of the armchair, pulling it carefully and quickly on each of his arms through the sleeve, the only thing remaining now was just to button it up enirely and find a way to get as far as he can from this crowding chick before losing it. Who would’ve thought that the single living life would make you so sensitive to such factors as cohabiting with another breathing person without clashing because of the smallest things. 

Historia doesn’t give up that easily from trying to persuade him in doing what she only wished, so she uses the chance to nonchalantly come in front of him, raising her tidy fingers so she can start closing each button from the top to the bottom, her hands working softly against his now clothed and muscular chest, not minding that now Levi was looking down at her almost wide eyed, feeling like his coping mechanism are smashed one by one as the minutes pass and his joyous friend didn’t tried the “giving space” method he recommended, only doing the opposite. 

He puts one of his palms on his forehead. trying to hide the fact that the closeness of the kind gesture she was doing was intimate enough to make him flustered, a fine glowing blush creeping upon his pale and fine at touch cheeks. He definetly mentally cursed himself many and plenty times over and over for letting that breeze of warmth hit the inside of his ribcage with sinister power. It wasn’t like it was a feeling synonym to a bad gesture. It’s just that it felt wrong. It felt out of the script for him to endure such warmth and even fondness for the person in front of him. Since when he felt this kind of fuzziness inside his vessel that intensely? 

He was standing on the blue and old matress of his dear mother’s bed, wiggling his little snow-tinted legs with a rush of energy, almost feeling restless as Kuchel was trying to fix his little white shirt that she bought him just today from the Underground City’s market. True to be told, the material of the shirt couldn’t even be compared to the quality of the shirts that most of the noble man’s children’s shirts were worth of. It was slightly itchy at the touch of Levi’s sensitive and unripe skin, but that still didn’t stop his beautiful mother from seeing her son in a beautiful attire, transforming him completely from the casually and forgettable brat that was roaming all day outside, trying to downgrade his levels of childhood energy. 

“Now, now, Levi, stand still so I can fix the buttons you just misplaced when I gave you to try this shirt.” She was paying attention at the little buttons that she was closing around the boy’s neck, fixing the juvenile mistake that he made because it was just his first time trying on this kind of piece of fabric. 

“But maman, this thing is really scratchy, I can’t stay in this thing for long. Please hurry up!” He whines as a small and saccharine pout was now shaping his thin lips, his cheeks being tinted a shade of pink as he was looking at himself in the mirror placed behind them. 

“Just a second dear, I will finish it soon and it will be...” She ties the last one of the buttons of the little boys’ shirt neatly and without the clumsyness he naturally had, now making herself comfortable just a few inches backwards, staring lovingly at her one and only jewel of a son. “ Just like you wore it more than one time.” She chuckles as she saw the embarassed expression of little Levi, slowly pinching one of his round and milky cheeks. “ My beautiful, beautiful boy. See how good you look now? You just have to take things slowly, and in the end everything will go smoothly in your advantage. “ She moves herself more towards her left so he can take a better look at himself in the reflected image, now the dirty and dark clothed kid from just about this morning being replaced for a handsome, methodical young man soon to become. He liked what he saw in the mirror, the neat and clean shirt almost making him pass as one of the normal and cherished by their destiny kids that he always watched with envy from below, wishing he would get at least one day to feel what a normal and lacking of worries life feels and looks like around him. 

“It only looks good because you made it better than I could ever do it...” He turns his big and storm coloured orbs towards the sacred beauty that was his mother in front of him, earning from her a gentle pat on the head. 

“Don’t you say that, sweetheart. When you will get bigger, you will have to look just as handsome as that boy you saw in the reflection. You will need to be tidy and organized, well dressed and well fed, as much as your force in those beautiful hands can accomplish.” She smiles widely and filled with raw emotion as she took his smaller hands in her motherly ones, raising one of them so she can kiss it deeply and with unique warmth. “ And I believe that you can accomplish a lot of great things in the future. Because you are my little special heaven.. Not special because of a brand new white shirt that I gifted you. Special just because you were born and held into my arms..” She almost feels her eyes getting more and more damp as she was speaking every word she wanted to tell him, but she tries her hard to not shed any tears in front of him, her only memory of crying wanting to be the happy cry she felt upon her skin when she first held her child in her thin arms. She slowly and kindly grabs him by both of his small shouders, making him pay attention even more to her confession. 

“ Find love above this god forsaken land we both are bound by the Walls to breathe and eat inside of, my dear. Meet someone who will dedicate their heart towards you and make sure to treat them like the finest treasure you will ever find. Just please don’t do to them what your father did to us a long time ago..” She smiles with an unevitable sad tinge, sniffing shortly so she can keep her steel like motherly expression in front of him. She pledged to herself to not make Levi look at her while crying not even once in this life. 

“... Mom..” He looks wide-eyed at the woman in front of him and just places a warm hand of his on her bigger cheek, looking curiously at what it seemed like a wave of emotion that hitted her. 

“... It’s nothing, baby.” She laughs it off and kisses his hand once again, placing it again on her cheek as she was hovering it with her own hand. “ .. It’s just that one day I will no longer be here to be closing up your buttons everyday, to be cutting your bangs when they get in your eyes, to help you tie your shoes or cook you good meals. You will have to do them by yourself, and I am sure with all my being that you can. You will live a life you are worthy of. “ She moves her hand so she can grab a white piece of fabric that she cutted from her old dress that she wore as a young woman, placing it around his neck and flipping it a few times, making it resemble what it seemed to be a white cravat. 

“No, now it’s your turn to not say that.” He furrows his brows at the thought of not having his dear mom around him anymore, moving closing to her so he can embrace her neck with all the lenght of his short arms, glueing his nose on her rose and powdery smell she always had, the only smell that he could ever be pacified by. “... Until the day of you not being around here anymore comes.... Will you help me tie my buttons up one more time before forgetting about doing it? ..” He innocently asks as his mesmerising voice vibrated against the skin of her neck, almost mimicking the sound of a baby bear hanging on his dear mother. 

“Oh, my baby... Of course I will do it, of course” She chuckled gingerly as she wrapped her arms around the object of her most grandious love she ever gave, massaging slowly his beautiful and soft ravenette head. 

“Do you promise me, mom?”He asks for her reassurance because he didn’t want to ever mention the thought of not feeling her presence around anymore, a thought that made his little beating heart grow tired. 

“I promise you, my son. Mon nounours. Mon ange.” She parted from him just to plant a sweet and long kiss on his bare forehead, framed by the handsome middlepart he was mantaining. “ Mon trésor.” 


End file.
